Unreasonable Persistance
by Silverone
Summary: Contains TatsuhaxTaki done for the 30kisses community on lj. Taki Aizawa is trying to get his life back on track, but Tatsuha Uesugi seems to be determined to get in his way. Theme 23. Candy.
1. Lost Fame

This fic is based on the 30kisses challenge on livejournal.

Pairing: Tatsuha/Taki

Theme: #7 Superstar

Title: Lost Fame

He had been a legend, or rather, he should have been. He was supposed to have been in the spotlight, loved by all, brighter than the sun. But, he'd lost his place in the limelight, and in the end, Taki Aizawa had no one to blame but himself. And it was definitely over, even if Tohma Seguchi had merely said that ASK was 'suspended.' As far as Taki was concerned, he might as well have been told to dry up and die.

Not that Taki hadn't already been hounded by offers from other labels, all of them excited about the chance to take up what NG Studios had given up. There were plenty of opportunities for an up and coming band that had already proven to be quite popular with the female fans. But, in his mind, nothing was as good as NG. Nothing was as good as that first opportunity.

Instead of doing what he should have done and decide on an offer, Taki spent many of his days, like today, looking longingly at the offices of NG. He did this from a distance of course, always hidden behind a hat and sunglasses. This day was just like all those others, filled with longing for what he couldn't have, for what he didn't need.

"Hey cutie, why don't you just go inside?" Okay, someone actually talking to him wasn't part of the same old, same old. Taki turned around, about ready to snap at the speaker and froze, his insides turning at the familiar face before him. Eiri Yuki, or so it appeared. The hair was darker, as were the eyes. He also appeared younger. Then again, maybe Taki's eyes were playing tricks on him. No they had to be.

"What do you want? Haven't you done enough?" Taki's words were hostile, covering up whatever fear he might have been feeling.

"Woah… What's eating you?" The dark-haired Eiri held his hands up in a defensive motion, as if he hadn't expected the action. Taki didn't buy it for a second.

In fact, his fear was being overcome by the anger he felt. "Don't play dumb with me. You know exactly what my problem is." Maybe he'd end up getting killed for what he was about to say, but Taki didn't care. If he didn't say it, he'd probably end up dying of a heart attack anyways. "You go and nearly kill my guitarist over that pink haired dumb ass you call a lover. Then as if that weren't enough, you have your other boyfriend push me in front of a car."

This was just the beginning of the list of grievances Taki had and he would have continued long into the night, making sure his death would actually be worth something. Except suddenly, a pair of lips were on his, shutting him up. Not only that, but he could feel the other's tongue being shoved into his throat, hands roughly twining into his hair. Just when he was about to black out though, he was released.

The singer stepped back quickly, his sunglasses dangling loosely from one of his ears now. "If you'll just shut up for a moment, I'll let you in on a little secret: I'm not Eiri Yuki. I'm his brother."

Taki let that information sink into the pit of his stomach where it settled uneasily. He had just spouted off all that bile to a complete stranger. A complete stranger who had kissed him without a second thought.

"Oh and another thing, Mr. Superstar," the other man grinned, "If you're going to vent, do it in a more private place. I mean, it sounds like you were involved in some deep shit with my brother." The teen closed in on him again and seemed to be looking him over. "Taki Aizawa, huh? Big singer, used to be a star. Not the kind of big shot I was hunting for, but since I came up empty handed today, you'll do."

Before Taki could yell at him for the 'used to be' comment, he felt something get pressed into his hand and the teenager was walking away, waving. "Try not to let your blood pressure get too high, Mr. Superstar!" Taki looked into his hand to see a small piece of paper with a phone number and a name.

"Tatsuha Uesugi?" He crushed the piece of paper in his hands, but didn't throw it away. Had he just gotten asked out on a date? As if he'd go with stranger he had just met on the street. Some kid who treated his status so flippantly, like it was nothing at all. The number and name were probably fake, though if he remembered right, Seguchi's wife's maiden name had been Uesugi…

NO! He wasn't going to let himself getting drawn into that world again. The world he had tried to destroy, which had destroyed him instead. He had learned his lesson, not to try and change that which was beyond his power. It had been a painful lesson and he was not about to throw away what he had learned. Especially not for some mere boy who had just appeared out of nowhere.

Even if he had the most intense eyes Taki had ever seen and kissed you like he was some hero out of a romantic movie. Even if the boy had basically invited him into his own world, the singer was under no obligation to take him up on his offer. Not like the teenager would ever be able to find him again either. Not like they'd run into each other again. Unless the boy frequented this area, which was likely.

Taki would just have to make sure he stopped hanging around NG. Maybe it was time to actually decide on one of those record deals. He had told his band mates that he was waiting for a sign and this seemed to be a sign if there ever was one. Or maybe a warning. After all, any sign that looked like Eiri Yuki couldn't be good for you.

That had to be what that encounter was. A warning that he was heading back towards the path of obsession and that he had to mend his ways and move on with his life. He looked down at the paper in his hand once more. He should just throw it away, but maybe it'd be better to keep. As a reminder of the little revelation he had today, not because he planned on calling the boy. There was NO WAY he'd ever be tempted to call that number. He wasn't going to play into that boy's hands.


	2. I'm gonna get you, one way or another

Title: I'm gonna get you, one way or another

Author/Artist: Silvermagess

Pairing: TatsuhaxTaki Fandom: Gravitation

Theme: #10

Disclaimer: I don't own the series. If I did, certain characters would get MUCH, MUCH more screen time.

When Tatsuha Uesugi left his phone number with someone, it usually only took three days at the most for them to call him. At the most, he was forced to wait seven days for a call. But, this was the first time he had gone ten days without receiving a phone call from someone. 

That day, when Tatsuha had been in Tokyo, he'd been hoping to be waiting on another person's call. But, Ryuichi had proved unreachable as always. One would have thought that he'd have easy access to the man through his brother-in-law. But, Tohma had always proven to be more of a brick wall than a pathway to Ryuichi. A really aggravating, smiling brick wall.

When Tatsuha had stormed out of NG Studios, frustrated as hell, meeting up with that stranger had been a stroke of luck. Especially when he realized that this guy was actually a famous singer as well. A really attractive, famous singer. It had seemed only fitting that if he couldn't have Ryuichi, he could have a different singer instead.

That hadn't gone as planned either. The guy had totally freaked on him for having the same face as his borther. It was the first time that having the looks of a famous novelist had truly hindered him and secretly, Tatsuha had been just a little miffed. Who did this guy think he was after all? And Tatsuha had made sure to point out that the guy was just a has been and didn't have a right to act like he was someone special.

Seeing the look of irritation on that face had been even more amusing. Of course, it did occur to him that maybe he'd been maybe a little too irritating and had turned the other man off. But, he had quickly dismissed the theory. The man had to be at least curious after all. Tatsuha sure as hell was. He wanted to know how this guy knew his brother and what had happened between them.

There was also the fact that he wanted an excuse to leave the temple again. It was that time of year where his father seemed to delight in giving him extra chores. The old man said it was to build character, Tatsuha said it was just torture. Needless to say though, if he could find even a tenuous reason to leave, the teenager would gladly take it.

His cell phone had yet to ring though. And this was beginning to grate on his nerves. Here he was on his hands and knees, mopping the floor when he could have been out having sex and raising hell in general. He swore if the man didn't call, he'd have to track him down just to get revenge. Just as he was contemplating how to go about said revenge, the phone rang.

Scrambling to answer it, Tatsuha forgot that he was on his hands and knees and crashed face first into the floor before he finally managed to pull the cell phone out of his pocket and answer it. "Hello, Tatsuha Uesugi, resident sex fiend at your service." He made sure to sound especially confidant so that who ever it was on the other end of the line wouldn't think he'd been waiting around like some loser. Which he hadn't been.

"Don't go around answering calls like that, you disgusting bastard." Tatsuha perked up at the voice, grinning inwardly. His place as the undefeated teenage king of pick up lines remained in tact.

"Well, Mr. Superstar, what can I help you with? Need your bed warmed? Or is it something to do with my brother or my brother-in-law?"

There was a harsh intake of breath on the other end of the line. "Don't know why I even bothered…" He was muttering and it sounded like he was about to hang up.

"Hmmm, leaving so soon? You've come this far already, so why not go all the way already? Sink down to the second level of hell." There was silence on the other end of the line, but Tatsuha could sense the incredible anger the other man was feeling.

"I don't need information on your family. I don't want anything to do with you guys."

"Then why were hanging around my brother-in-law's place of business that day?"

"What about you? Why were you skulking about? Apparently, you live in Kyoto, so it's a really far trip just to visit family." The voice had an accusing tone to it.

"I was going to meet someone. Someone hot. Far hotter than you." Tatsuha was getting a little annoyed, not that he was willing to let it show. This guy was beginning to bug him. He was almost as irritating as Eiri could be.

"And you walked off empty handed, didn't you? Let me guess, he wasn't interested, didn't think you were hot enough for him?" Tatsuha twitched now. No one was allowed to say he wasn't good enough for Ryuichi. No one.

"He didn't show alright, rebound boy?"

"Rebound boy? I'm nobody's rebound, let alone yours."

"I wanted someone else, but couldn't get them, so I came after you. That makes you a rebound." Tatsuha was now smug, his smile growing as he imagined the other man fuming.

"Well, you're not getting me."

"Really? You didn't seem to mind the way I kissed you. I bet you want another kiss, don't you?" Tatsuha's voice took on a sultry, husky tone as if to make the other man imagine all the bad things he was thinking.

"Whatever." Before Tatsuha could reply he heard the phone slam down, hard. He glanced at his phone, checking the caller id quickly.

"Guess I've got a lot of work ahead of me." The guy was prickly as hell and probably wouldn't have seemed worth the effort in most people's eyes, but Tatsuha liked them feisty. He found it endearing. 

Getting off the floor, he dusted himself off and quickly wrote a note to his father, telling some inane little lie about needed to visit a museum in Tokyo for some school project. Well, he could always drag the singer to a museum, then it wouldn't be a complete lie. And he was definitely getting the older man to go with him, whether he liked it or not. 


	3. If I must

Title: If I must

Author/Artist: Silvermagess

Pairing: TatsuhaxTaki

Fandom: Gravitation

Theme: #11 Gardenia Disclaimer: I don't own the series. If I did, certain characters would get MUCH, MUCH more screen time.

Notes: I'm sure other people have looked up the symbolism for this particular challenge, but by giving a gardenia to someone, you're saying, "You're lovely." It also means secret love, secret joy, purity and refinement. As for what they mean in this fic, guess. :P

Calling the Yuki Eiri clone had been a bad move on Taki's part. He'd had a funny feeling ever since then, as if some odd electricity was hanging in the air. This was not the time to be getting weirded out. There was a big deal in the works; he was finally ready to let go of everything that had happened to him with in the past few years. He was going to sing again. And now, it was possible he had jinxed everything.

It was one particular morning, when he was still groggy from sleep that his worst suspicions were confirmed. If he had known who was making that loud knocking on the door, he would have definitely stayed in bed, making sure to lock all the doors and windows first. Instead, he made the mistake of dragging himself to the door and opening it.

"Good morning sunshine!" The Eiri Yuki clone was there and he was incredibly cheerful. He was also holding what appeared to be a bouquet of flowers. "Geez, you look awful." The boy scrutinized him much more closely now.

Frowning the singer looked down at what he was wearing. A pair of old sweats and a t-shirt with some holes in it. He knew his hair was a mess so he didn't check bother to check. "Excuse me for not being a morning person, you creep."

"Ah, I woke you up, didn't I?" He patted Taki's cheek playfully and tried to make his way inside, only Taki stopped him, making sure there was no way Tatsuha could squeeze past him.

"What is it you're after?" Taki decided that he didn't like the boy's attitude. He was far too full of himself, too confidant and cheerful. He hated cheerfulness at eight in the morning.

"You. Though, you should have figured that out by now." Tatsuha tried to shove his way inside once again, only to find Taki blocking him once again. It was obvious that both were determined to get their way by now.

"I don't want anything to do with you."

"Liar. You're the one who called me."

Taki looked away, his fingers wrapping around the door frame. "I was bored, that's all." He was feeling dizzy, the fragrance of the flowers over powering him. "What are those?" He glared at the bouquet more closely, his animosity showing through. He was beginning to think that it was something poisonous.

"They're called gardenias. I wanted to get you some flowers and well, I asked the sales lady what I should get and she showed me this." He held it out. After it had been a few minutes and Taki realized that Tatsuha was not going to retract the bouquet, Taki took it. Their hands brushed for just the slightest moment, heat leaving faint traces against the singer's skin.

The heady scent was making him feel faint, but he held the flowers up to his nose anyway, inhaling deeply. He recognized the scent, having smelled it in a million different perfumes, air fresheners and scented candles. He was beginning to wake up a little bit, which made the scent less aggravating, but only by a small margin.

"So, what time can you I pick you up?"

Taki decided to ignore him, focusing his attention on the flowers. "I didn't say I was going anywhere with you."

"You accepted a gift from me. That means you have to go." What was he, a demon?

"The flowers?" Taki quickly shoved the bouquet towards the teenager. "Take it back then. I don't' want it."

Tatsuha shoved it back towards him. "Too late. You can't take it back, so you're going out with me."

"No, I'm not." Taki tried to get back inside and slam the door shut, only to find that Tatsuha had managed to wedge himself into the door frame.

"If you don't, I'll spread rumors. I'll go around telling people that I'm you're boyfriend. I bet the newspapers would really like to hear that. Oh and my brother-in-law would really like that. And Aniki too! He doesn't act like it, but he can be very overprotective."

"You wouldn't."

"Listen pal, I came all the way from Kyoto just for the chance to bang you. So yes I would do something like that. No skin off my back. Major prestige for me if anything. But, not so much for you, huh?"

The threat was obvious and Taki had the feeling that this boy would really do it. He couldn't afford this right now, not when he was finally pulling his life back together. Plus, he didn't need to be pushed in front of a car again. "Okay, fine. I'll go with you. Just once."

"Once is all I ask. And it's all you'll need before you realize how much you want me."

"You're an overconfident little shit."

"I get that a lot. I'll be back to pick you up later tonight then." He walked off, waving as if he went and did this sort of thing all the time. Going back inside and slamming the door shut, Taki dropped the bouquet on the nearby table and looked at it as if it was some potentially dangerous object. No, it wasn't just potentially dangerous, it was dangerous. This whole situation was and he was hopelessly stuck.


	4. No, Dammit!

****

Title: No, dammit!  
**Author/Artist: **Silvermagess  
**Pairing: **TatsuhaxTaki  
**Fandom: **Gravitation  
**Theme: **#15 Perfect Blue  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own the series. If I did, certain characters would get MUCH, MUCH more screen time.

****

Notes: Blue is said to symbolize the following in esoteric Buddhism: light blue symbolizes the sea and the sky or infinity. Dark blue is the symbol of healing and medicine. It should also be known that our favorite teenage Buddhist monk has blue eyes in the anime. Does this actually have anything to do with the fic? Maybe, maybe not. :D

This was stupid. It was an incredibly stupid thing to be doing and yet, Taki was going to do it. He was going to go out on a 'date' with Eiri Yuki's kid brother. It was absurd, laughable and mind bogglingly stupid. _"Why me?" _That was a question he'd been asking himself for almost the whole day now.

Instead of just disappearing though, he had gotten himself ready for the 'date.' The kid presented a very real threat. If Taki could just figure out what the boy wanted, he'd probably be in the clear. He was just a teenager after all, so it couldn't be too hard to give him whatever it was he desired. If push came to shove, Taki would just have to make sure the boy's plans back fired on him.

That night though, when his door bell, Taki nearly lost his resolve. It took all his will power to swallow his fears and open the door. The boy was the same as before, not dressed any differently, still wearing the same smirk. "I hope you didn't agonize all those hours we were apart, Tachi-chan?"

Taki grimaced at the nickname, wondering how that had been found out. "Don't call me Tachi or chan."

"But all the fan sites said that Tachi was your nickname." Seeing Taki twitch, Tatsuha shrugged. "I spent all day at an internet café. I had to have something to look at online while I swilled that crap they call coffee."

The singer crossed his arms, now incredibly annoyed. "You're not calling me Tachi." He hated anyone other than his friends calling him that. And the last person he wanted calling him that was this kid.

"Can I call you Taki then? I'll let you call me Tatsuha." The teenager smiled cutely as he rested a hand on Taki's shoulders, as if he thought they were friends already.

"No." Taki didn't move to remove the hand, because he realized that it had probably been places that he didn't want any contact with.

"Tachi-chan it is then!" Tatsuha said as he slapped Taki's shoulder heartily.

"Okay fine, call me Taki." This kid was already pissing him off. How was he going to survive through the night?

"So, where are you driving me?" At Taki's incredulous look, Tatsuha smirked and pointed at a motorcycle that was sitting out in the parking lot. "I don't think you want to ride double on that with me. Besides, it's an expensive trip up from Kyoto and well, you're rich, right?"

Taki shoved Tatsuha's hand off his shoulder and slammed the door shut behind him. He stalked off towards his car, not waiting to see if the boy was coming. "Fine, where do you want to go?"

"A hotel!" The teenager proclaimed as he ran after Taki, his good mood making him even more annoying.

"No hotels."

"You say that now, but trust me, you'll want one later." Taki ignored him, climbing into his car and waiting for the teenager to catch up. "Sweet ride. You must have been making millions before it all went down the toilet." Tatsuha craned his neck around as he climbing inside the passenger seat and slammed the door shut.

Taki managed not to smack Tatsuha amazingly enough and instead focused on pulling out of the driveway. "I'm still making millions." _Or I will be._

"Uh huh. In your dream world." As he said this, the teenager slid a hand to Taki's knee, causing the singer to nearly swerve off the road. Tatsuha removed his hand almost immediately at the reaction. "Touchy."

Taki inhaled sharply, correcting the car's path. "What is with you?" He couldn't remember being around anyone this grabby and considering how many times he'd been nearly mauled to death by rabid fans, that was saying something.

"What's with you? It's just a little touch. Not like I put my hand down your pants. Or is that what you want?" Once again Tatsuha made with the devilish grin, which Taki tried to ignore this time.

"No, it's not."

"Fine." Tatsuha sounded disappointed and turned his attention towards the window.

"So where are we going?" A change of subject seemed like a good idea right now as far as Taki was concerned.

The boy's gaze was now fixated on watching the passing scenery. "Somewhere we can talk. I'm kinda keen on going to that café again."

"Why would you need more caffeine?" Taki didn't like the idea of dealing with a crazed sex fiend hyped up on caffeine.

"I need energy for later. Lots of it." He looked at Taki and gave him a smirk that hinted at things that were best left unthought of. Taki found himself looking at Tatsuha's eyes suddenly for some reason. The boy had blue eyes, very blue eyes, which didn't matter, except it did, because Taki couldn't look away for some reason, until Tatsuha spoke. "Shouldn't you be looking at the road?" Taki jerked his head away sharply, causing Tatsuha to laugh. "You sure you just don't want to go to the hotel right now?"

"We aren't going to any hotels."

"You say that even though you just got lost in my eyes." Tatsuha purred slightly, as if to be seductive.

"I didn't get lost in your eyes. Just not every day I see people with eyes like that." He muttered. _Like his brother's. Like a damn beast._

"Like Aniki? " The kid had to be a mind reader or something, a trait Taki found very annoying. "Do you have a boner for him?" A really idiotic mind reader at that.

"Fuck no. The very thought of him makes me gag."

"So I must make you want to gag too, since I look like him and all." The gaze Tatsuha was giving him was devoid of all emotion, making it impossible to figure out what he was thinking.

"No. You creep me out, but you don't make me gag." And before he could stop him, Tatsuha gave him a peek on the cheek. "What was that for?" Taki rubbed the spot as if someone had just swabbed a sample of the flesh eating virus on it.

The boy was beaming, which was a little weird. "That's the sweetest thing you ever said to me. I do believe you're coming around." He elbowed Taki's arm playful.

"No I'm not. I'm just being honest." Well, in all honesty, the boy creeped him out, but not in a bad way per say, not since Taki had figured out he was a flesh and blood man and not some sort of ghost. It was just weird being at the mercy of someone else's lustful gaze, especially when that someone had an enemy's face.

"Yeah, whatever." The boy waved a hand dismissively, obviously satisfied that he had won a point of some sort and wasn't going to let Taki ruin it. "Hey, instead of the café, there's somewhere else I want to go. Not a hotel either, though if you really want to go to the hotel, I'll gladly oblige you." Yet again with that smirk.

"Keep dreaming your delusional dream." The teenager sounded like a broken record by now, the way he kept steering the conversation towards sex. "So where is it you want to go?"

"It's a surprise. Just follow my directions." Taki nodded, though he didn't know why he was trusting in this boy. Hopefully the destination would be worth the journey.


	5. Out of Need, Perhaps?

**Title:** Out of Need, Perhaps?  
**Author/Artist: **Silvermagess  
**Pairing: **TatsuhaxTaki  
**Fandom:** Gravitation  
**Theme:** #30. Kiss  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own these characters or this series and I do not profit from this piece of writing.

**Notes:** The painting mentioned is called "The Lovers," by Rene Magritte.

"This is a joke, right?" Taki glanced up at the building as he got out of his car, brow furrowing.

Tatsuha rolled his eyes at the singer. "No, it's not."

"It's a museum." He said blankly as he looked at both the building and Tatsuha disdainfully, wondering why he had to put up with this.

"Yep." Tatsuha sounded proud of himself despite how obviously annoyed Taki was.

"Why here?" Actually, he really wanted to know, because this seemed so incredibly stupid.

"It's classy. And I needed to visit one as part of an alibi, so I figured it'd be a good idea to kill two birds with one stone."

"That's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard." _Really, who does he think he's fooling?_

Tatsuha shrugged and grabbed him by the wrist. "Whatever. Let's go."

* * *

Taki decided that he should be glad for the weird location Tatsuha had chosen. It meant that he was less likely to get groped. At least he hoped so. 

"And people call me a pervert. I don't go around painting pictures of naked people." Tatsuha was gazing at a nude of a woman, looking at intently in the way most boys his age would. He really was a typical, immature teenager it seemed.

"Most people who do nudes aren't doing it for sex."

"Yeah, yeah. It's to study anatomy, blah, blah." The teenager waved his hand dismissively. "It's all just a lie told by perverts so they have an excuse to paint nudie pictures." At that moment, Tatsuha looped an arm around Taki's waist. "As fun as these are though, I prefer reality." The boy purred as he brushed his lips against the singer's neck.

Taki pushed him away immediately.. "What is it you want from me anyways?"

"Woah, woah. Pleasure before business my friend." Tatsuha strolled on ahead and stopped at the next painting and stared, mouth gaping slightly. "That is so freaking hot."

Taki walked over to where Tatsuha was standing and looked up at the painting. It was a picture of a guy and woman kissing, but white cloth was draped over their heads.

"It's weird." The singer frowned at the painting, which in his mind wasn't just creepy, but weird.

"I think it's kinky." Tatsuha grinned at him lecherously.

"Good for you. I'm sure you'll find some girl or guy stupid enough to try it out with." Taki decided he'd had enough of this place by now. And no more playing nice, because it was really killing his mood.

"You're no fun." The teenager whined as he caught up to Taki.

"So I've been told." _If you only knew how not fun I can be, you'd be putting a hundred miles between us._

Tatsuha sighed to himself, sounding annoyed. "Why are all adults such a drag?"

"You'll find out when you've lived a little longer." By now they had reached the doors to the museum and Taki exited them, eager for fresh air. Tatsuha seemed equally glad to be out of there as he pulled a carton of cigarettes from his jacket and lit one up, taking a long drag.

"I'm not a kid." He muttered and indeed, most wouldn't have argued with him as he did look fairly adult.

"And yet, you just asked why adults are a certain way. That implies that you do not think of yourself as an adult, thus implying you must be a kid." Taki smirked at the annoyed look on Tatsuha's face. He knew a big talker when he smelled one and this kid took that cake.

"I'm a teenager. Teen-ager. Not a kid." He wagged the cigarette at Taki as if it were a ruler and Tatsuha was the teacher.

Taki shrugged, smirking at him. "Same difference."

The teenager gaped him for a moment. "Are you always on?"

"Huh?"

"Why can't you just relax and enjoy yourself?"

"Because I'm in a distasteful situation that I'd extract myself from if I only knew how." Taki could tell that Tatsuha was a little pissed. Something about the set of the boy's eyes was giving it away. _Bet he's not used to anyone saying no to him._

"What did my brother do to you?" _Getting to the heart of the matter, huh? Alright then, I can handle that._

"Paid me back for something I did by beating my best friend half to death. So I tried to get him back which pissed off your brother-in-law and he tried to kill me."

Tatsuha stared at him and after a few seconds started laughing. "Man that's the weirdest shit I've ever heard. At least make up something believable.

Taki glared at Tatsuha balefully. "I am not lying. I was in the hospital for a long, long time. I have the scars to prove it." Broken bones, scars, scrapped skin, it had not been a pleasant memory.

"_Right. _I could believe Eiri murdering someone, but Tohma? He's a fluff ball."

"You are fucking blind then." Taki turned and started to leave. He wasn't going to tolerate someone making fun of something that had changed his life.

"Wait." A hand grabbed his shoulder causing him to look back at Tatsuha. "You're right, I don't know anything. Which is why I need you to tell me."

"Huh?" For some reason, the kid looked desperate.

"My family, they never tell me anything. And I'm tired of being treated like I'm some dumb kid who needs to be protected from what's going on."

Taki cocked an eyebrow. Anyone who thought this kid was vulnerable needed to get their head examined. Though right now, he was doing a pretty good job of looking defenseless. "It's not my place to tell you." He jerked his shoulder out of his grip and continued walking towards his car.

"I can make it worth your while!"

Taki looked back at him and scoffed. "How? What are you going to offer me? Money? Because trust me when I say that I don't need money from the likes of you."

"Well…" The boy was thinking now and it was obvious that such an activity was a lost cause for him. "I could offer you sex."

"Not interested. I can get that from anyone I want." Taki had to admit the boy deserved a few points for absolute persistence.

"Come on, there has to be something you want." There was a tiny bit of a whine to his voice, which caused Taki to grin to himself. The little creep was probably able to get what ever he wanted by using sex. It must have been killing him to be rejected.

Taki stopped walking away and turned around. He then closed the distance between them so that they were only a breath apart. "Fine, I'll tell you what I want." He smirked at Tatsuha's eager look. "I want you to reverse time. Go back to the moment I thought up that sick little plan and keep me from going through with it.

Or even better, go back to when I saw that stupid little idiot singing on stage for the first time. And I want you to come up and slap some sense into me." He leaned back a little now. "If you can do that, then I'll give you whatever you want, no matter how difficult or disgusting it may be." He patted Tatsuha on the cheek and turned away, starting to walk off towards his car.

"That's not fair. Give me something doable!" Taki just chose to ignore him. "At least give me a ride home you bastard!"

"You can walk, can't you?"

"No."

Rolling his eyes, the singer sighed defeated. "Fine. I'll be nice and give you a ride." Since he wouldn't be seeing him after this, why not?

* * *

By the time they had gotten back to his apartment, the boy had begun to fidget and looked irritated. The ride itself had been uncomfortably silent and Taki had almost been tempted to say something, but had resisted in the end. It wasn't his fault that the boy was throwing a little tantrum. 

"Well, guess this is good bye then." _Thankfully. _Tatsuha wasn't saying anything as he got out of the car and started heading towards his motorcycle. It was obvious that he was still pissed off.

Taki walked up to his apartment, grinning to himself now. He felt like he had won somehow and couldn't be more satisfied with himself. It may have been petty, but he needed what few victories he had nowadays.

"Fuck!" Taki turned his head to see Tatsuha kicking the motorcycle and swearing up a storm. Shrugging, the singer continued on his way. It wasn't any of his concern what happened to the boy anymore. As he walked up the stairs, he heard a clanging noise behind him and turned around to see Tatsuha behind him, breathing a hard from running up the stairs. "Please, let me use your phone. My bike's dead."

What's he up to? "Don't you have a cell phone?"

"The battery's dead." Tatsuha held it out as if to prove his point and indeed, it did appear to be without power.

"The moment you're done using the phone, you leave, got it?"

"Yeah." He nodded.

The moment they were inside, Taki pointed him towards the phone wanting to get rid of the boy as soon as possible. It'd be better that way after all. "If you stay on there too long, I'm making you pay the phone bill."

Tatsuha stuck his tongue out and began dialing. Taki left the room then noticed the gardenias from earlier sitting on the end table by the door. He picked them up and frowned, wondering if he should toss them or not.

"You should keep them. They were expensive." The voice was dripping with satisfaction and Taki turned around to see Tatsuha grinning at him.

Taki dropped the flowers on the table, trying very hard not to act as if he had just been caught red handed. "Aren't you going to leave now?"

"Well, about that." Tatsuha looked nervous and was rubbing his neck. "Can I stay here tonight?"

"No." The singer opened the door as if to emphasize the point.

"Please? My brother won't let me stay with him and my sister will rant me out and well, come on!" Tatsuha's hands were clasped together now, in a begging manner, as if it would some how make him appear more charming than he actually was.

This time though, Taki wasn't going to let himself be fooled. He was wise to the boy's cute and harmless act by now. "No."

Unclasping his hands, Tatsuha once again got that serious look on his face. "I'll scream molestation."

"I'm the one who should be complaining about that, not you?" _Though, who'd believe you, Taki?_

And suddenly, once again the boy was back to looking vulnerable. "Come on. It's not going to kill you to be nice to me." _Yes it will._

Despite what he was thinking though, he found himself making a different decision entirely. "Alright, you can stay. But only because you look so pathetic and pitiful whining like that."

"I wasn't whining! I was bargaining!" The boy remained looking a indignant for a bit longer before a strange smile crossed his face. "You won't regret this." Tatsuha's evil smile was telling him otherwise though and Taki found himself regretting yet another decision he had made in relation to this kid.


	6. Finding those buttons

**Title: **Finding those buttons  
**Author/Artist: **Silvermagess  
**Pairing: **TatsuhaxTaki  
**Fandom: **Gravitation  
**Theme: #**28. Wada Calcium CD3  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own these characters or this series and I do not profit from this piece of writing.

**Warnings:** Mild language, sexual references and the not so pretty effects of drinking too much.

It had been a simple lie, but Tatsuha took quite a bit of pride in the fact that Taki had actually believed him. He could have called his brother and gone over to his place. But, that wouldn't have served Tatsuha's goals: finding out the truth about Taki and getting Taki into bed.

He was so close in fact that it would have been stupid to leave. Taki had already spouted of so much information about that terrible incident, whatever it may have been, that it was only a matter of time until he revealed everything. And the way the older man kept giving into him had Tatsuha convinced that getting him into bed wouldn't take much more effort. It was merely a matter of patience and finding more buttons to push.

"Listen, just help yourself to the fridge, okay?" Taki had scowled at him in annoyance before marching off into the living room. Tatsuha shrugged to himself as he entered the kitchen and began to poke around. He had to admit he was impressed with the place. It was almost as big as Eiri's place, without all the modern art deco crap his brother worshipped.

He dug through the fridge until he found a six pack of beer. This would lighten up the mood nicely. He walked into the living room, where Taki was sitting on the couch, looking pissed off. Tatsuha sat down next to him, causing Taki to scoot as far away as possible. "Man, I'm not rabid." Tatsuha said as he opened up one of the cans, setting the six pack on the coffee table sitting in front of them. He chugged it down, watching Taki out of the corner of his eye.

The singer crossed his arms and looked away, disgusted. "Great, not only are you a sex addict, but you're an underage drinker as well."

"So what? You telling me you never had any booze when you were my age?

"We aren't talking about me, we're talking about you and your pathetic teenage rebellion."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" It sounded like something his brother would say and Tatsuha didn't like it. "It's my right to rebel."

"Yes, so you will go about it the same way everyone else your age does by drinking, sleeping around, smoking and disobeying your parents. Yeah your approach is one of a kind. Really non-conformist." The obvious sarcasm was not lost on Tatsuha who merely shrugged.

"You're just jealous because you're old and I'm young." Before Taki could respond, Tatsuha handed him a beer. "Come on, have a drink with me. That is, unless you're a light weight?"

It looked like Taki was going to refuse, then a grin spread across his face. Tatsuha chuckled to himself, sure that victory would be his. He could out drink just about anyone under the sun after all.

* * *

Hours later though, he felt like the floor was going to giving out under him. He had thought that since Taki was shorter and had a lighter build that he would've been passed out long before now. But Tatsuha had been proved wrong. They had gone through the whole six-pack and half a bottle of whiskey before Tatsuha passed out. When he woke up, three hours had passed and it was dark out. Taki had called him an idiot, smirking the whole time, then had the decency to look concerned or at least Tatsuha thought he did. 

"Hey are you all right? You don't need to go to the hospital do you?"

"No." Tatsuha got up slowly and the moment he did, he felt his stomach twist. "Oh shit, where's your bathroom?" Taki stared at with a look of disgust and pointed in the direction of what Tatsuha hoped was the bathroom, because that was where he was running.

Fortunately it was indeed the bathroom and he then proceed to retch and vomit for what seemed like an eternity. When he was finally done he went to rinse his face. Looking into the bathroom mirror, he winced. "You look like shit, man." He said to himself before splashing his face with cold water. The moment he was done reached over to the medicine cabinet, hoping to find some aspirin. He didn't care if Taki didn't like it, it was the singer's fault for not saying he had a high tolerance for alcohol.

He found what he wanted and gulped it down with water quickly. As he put the bottle back though, he accidentally knocked down some of the other bottles. He sighed to himself in frustration as he started to pick them up. As he did so, he found himself looking at the labels, even though he wasn't in any state to be reading prescriptions.

"Geez, he does a lot pain killers. Wonder if he's addicted or something?" He looked over the bottles as he put them away. The last bottle though, was surprisingly a generic vitamin bottle. He looked at it a moment before he realized that he had seen it somewhere before. When he realized where he had seen it before, he snickered to himself.

* * *

Taki had been slightly concerned when the Tatsuha had lost his feet, considering how much the boy had drunk. Taki did not want to go to jail just because he had provided some stupid kid with alcohol. He'd been gazing out the window while he waited, watching it get darker and darker out. The day had definitely been one of the most irritating ones he had ever been through. The bathroom door slammed and Taki turned around, seeing Tatsuha looking fairly happy despite how sick he had been earlier. 

Taki smirked at him, arms crossed. "You better not have made a mess in there. Otherwise you're going to be on your hands and knees scrubbing until it's spotless in there."

The boy scowled for a moment. "I didn't, so don't worry your pretty little head off." He walked over to Taki grinned. "You're how old again?" Taki blinked at the change in subject.

"Twenty-two, so what?" A bottle of vitamins was shoved in front of his face.

"So, why are you taking old man vitamins?"

Taki grabbed them and frowned. "Because my doctor said so, dumbass." He put the bottle down on the window sill. "What are you doing searching my medicine cabinet anyways?"

"I needed aspirin. And why would your doctor prescribe old man vitamins?"

"How the hell should I know? And why are you so hung up on it?"

"Because, my dad takes the same pills."

The stupidity was beginning to hurt Taki's brain. "So?"

"Well…" Taki had to conclude at this point that Tatsuha had been dropped on his head as a child and that the alcohol was only aggravating the condition.

"Listen, I don't see what business it is of yours, but-" Tatsuha placed a hand on his wrist and looked into his eyes.

"I just want to know more about you, okay?"

Taki looked down Tatsuha's hand, staring at it the exact spot where it was touching his own. "Why?"

"Because, I just do, okay?"

"I'm not telling you. And I don't want to know anything about you either." Actually, Taki was much, much more curious than he was letting on, but he wasn't going to act on it. His curiosity got him in trouble, and taking an interest would be what the boy wanted.

"Liar." Tatsuha suddenly shuddered, looking sick once again. He removed his hand from Taki's and walked over to the couch and slumped down on it. "And speaking of lies, why didn't you say you could hold your liquor?"

Taki shrugged, resisting "Are you serious? Do I look like the kind of person who practices sobriety?"

"Well, you look so skinny and all that. Very few people can drink me under the table, so I figured beating you would be a snap."

"It's experience, that's all." Taki sat down on the couch, once again as far away from him as humanly possible.

"Damn, you sound so old. Are you sure you're in your twenties? Maybe you're fifty and hide it really well."

"Fuck you."

"Is that a request? Because while I'm glad you're showing an interest, no one fucks me. I do the fucking, babe." He smirked at him.

"Is everything a come on with you?"

"Is everything a denial with you?"

"Depends on the person." Taki smirked.

"Oh, so you'll say yes, but only for the right person. How girly of you"

"Better than humping anything that moves." Taki sneered at him.

"I do not hump anything that moves. I have standards."

"You say that and yet, here you are, trying to get into the pants of a complete stranger."

"That's not the only reason I'm here." He muttered, looking away now. His head was still throbbing and he wasn't really up to the mental stimulation fighting with Taki was providing. "So, where am I sleeping?"

"The couch."

Tatsuha supposed he should have expected the response, but he still got indignant. "Why the couch? I'm a guest!"

"An uninvited one. I'm not giving up my bed for you."

"I never said you had to give up your bed. I was thinking we could share." Tatsuha knew that he shouldn't have said that and he shouldn't be smirking, but he was, despite his headache.

Taki got up and stretched, yawning slightly. "Not if it was the last bed on earth. Not if you were the last man on earth."

"You make it sound like I have some disease." The moment Tatsuha said it, he was expecting Taki to say he looked like a walking STD or something. Instead, the singer seemed to just shrug it off.

"Go to sleep, idiot."

Tatsuha sighed to himself and then decided to up the ante. "Don't I get a good night kiss?"

Taki threw a death glare at him as he left the room. "No. Now good night."

The light clicked off and Tatsuha found himself snuggling up under the covers, annoyed. He was not going to sleep on the cold, hard couch, not when there was a nice bed, with a nice, warm body in it. _I guess it'll take a little longer than I expected to get him to thaw out._


	7. This Could Work

**Title: **This could work  
**Author/Artist: **Silvermagess  
**Pairing: **TatsuhaxTaki  
**Fandom: **Gravitation  
**Theme: #**24. good night  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own this series or these characters. If I did, I wouldn't be wasting my time writing fanfic for this.

**Warnings: **Usual bickering and a hint of fluff.

Normally, as soon as Taki hit the sheets, he slept like a brick. But, tonight, he found himself waking up at one o clock. At first he thought it was nothing until he realized that he felt a weight on top of him. He down to see an arm draped over his chest. Looking to his side, he saw Tatsuha lying there, like he belonged. Taki stared at his unexpected bed partner for a few minutes before he attempted to shove him off. Instead, Tatsuha clung harder, even though he was still asleep. Taki tried again, this time being more forceful, but failed once again. In fact, Tatsuha now chose to lay his head against Taki's chest, which only disgusted the singer more, because the boy was drooling.

"Get the fucking hell off of me, you perverted freak!" Taki yelled as he shoved him harder. This seemed to wake up Tatsuha, though not very much.

"Ryuichi, honey?" He looked at Taki, his eyes heavy with sleep. "You're not my honey."

"No shit." He slammed him with a pillow, which seemed to wake the boy up.

Tatsuha sat up, rubbing his head frantically, even though it couldn't have hurt him too much. "Owww! Man, what's your damage?"

"What the hell are you doing in my bed, you freak of nature?" Taki could see that Tatsuha was still dressed and for that he was thankful.

Tatsuha looked at him, lips pouting. "I was so cold and lonely. And I couldn't fall asleep on a strange couch."

"Cut the crap."

"Jeeze man, you're so cold."

"Whatever. Just get out of here ,sleezeball."

"You're a horrible host. I figured we could, ya know, share some pillow talk." Taki felt himself twitch involuntarily. Everything this boy said was so incredibly stupid, cheesy and perverted.

He laid back down, making sure he was facing away from him. "Just go away, I want to sleep."

"Come on. How can you sleep?" There was a slight whine to Tatsuha's voice, as if he were a dog. So, he decided to ignore him as if he was just that, a dog. A stupid stray dog that had followed him home and wouldn't stop barking.

"I could if you would just disappear."

"Well, I'm not going to. Disappear I mean. From this bed or from your life." Taki turned around and looked at him carefully, trying to see if he was actually being serious.

"You're not going to learn anything worthwhile from me."

"Let me be the judge of that. Besides, that's not the only reason I'm doing this." He moved so that he was sitting even closer to Taki than he had been before. "It's because I want you."

At that moment, for some reason, it almost didn't seem funny anymore that the boy kept on saying it. "Why?"

This seemed to stun the boy for a moment and he shook his head, as if to clear away the cobwebs. "Well, because you're hot, rich, famous and well, other things."

"What other things?" Taki shifted so that he was laying on his elbows, his head resting on his hands.

"Just things." Tatsuha was frowning now, a little confused.

"Why don't you go mull it over on the couch?" Taki turned away from him, now disinterested, taking most of the covers with him. Tatsuha grabbed on to them and tried to pull them away.

"It's warmer here, so I'm staying." He finally managed to grab enough cover to slide under and wrapped his arms around Taki tightly. Taki tried to move, so as to shake him off, but found his arms pinned. "I'm not letting go." Tatsuha laughed as he kissed the top of Taki's head, which caused the older man to struggle even more.

"Get off of me you little…" Taki's voice trailed off when he heard a quiet snoring noise. He craned his neck so that he was able to look at Tatsuha's face. "You bastard, stop faking and get up!" He tried elbowing him, but Tatsuha merely grunted and clung even tighter. So much tighter, that Taki was finding it just a little hard to breath. He tried to twist and turn even harder, only Tatsuha squeezed him even tighter. Realizing he wasn't going to get away from him, he gave up and relaxed. After a few minutes, Tatsuha arms loosened enough so that he was comfortable, but not enough so that he could get away.

"Stupid little punk." Taki vowed to get revenge the moment he was free, which was probably going to be a while. He tried to relax as best he could. Which wasn't easy, considering that he was being spooned by a perverted teenager who would probably molest him the moment he nodded off.

He glanced at his alarm clock and furrowed his brow. It was only a quarter after one. That meant that he had hours to wait. He sighed to himself, trying to find something else to concentrate on. Which was hard, because as much as he hated to admit it, Tatsuha was nice and warm. He supposed that if he actually liked guys that way and if Tatsuha wasn't who he was, he'd even like it a little. Because, once he got passed who was holding him, Taki had to admit, it did feel nice. Nice enough to cause him to begin to drift off.

"Okay, you're more flipped out than usual, Taki." He sighed as he looked up at the ceiling. Maybe if he went to sleep, it wouldn't be so bad. The boy couldn't do too much without Taki waking up and besides, and besides he knew the boy was smart enough not to do something so stupid. Tatsuha wanted Taki to be eating out of the palm of his hand, not scared shitless of him.

"Maybe this can work after all." Taki thought to himself as he finally, albeit reluctantly, closed his eyes. It wasn't going to be a good night, but it didn't have to be a bad one either.


	8. Deadlocked yet again

**Title:** Deadlocked yet again  
**Author/Artist:** Silvermagess  
**Pairing:** TatsuhaxTaki  
**Fandom:** Gravitation  
**Theme:** #3. jolt!  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own this series or these characters. If I did, I wouldn't be wasting my time writing fanfic for this.

Tatsuha had woken up earlier than he usually did, feeling incredibly satisfied. He'd been sure his gambit would have ended up with Taki smothering him in his sleep. Then again, it was probably just because the older man was still in his arms. How could Tatsuha have let go of him when he felt so nice? Closing his eyes, Tatsuha sighed blissfully, even though he hadn't got any sex. He was comfortable and no father, brother or sister was going to come in and tell him he had to go to school or perform a funeral service. That more than made up for not getting any.

Idly, he let one hand slide up and down Taki's spine. He had a nice back, just like he had a nice stomach, nice shoulders and a nice ass. No wonder the girls at school got all hot and bothered whenever his band put out a new single. And that also explained why they'd cried rivers when the band had been dropped. Of course, Taki wasn't as great as Ryuichi Sakuma, but then again, who was?

As his hand strayed down to one of Taki's thighs, the older man stirred slightly and opened his eyes. He yawned and turned around and stared at Tatsuha for a moment. "Morning, pudding pie." Tatusha grinned and gave him a peck on the cheek. Taki suddenly bolted out of the bed and was staring at Tatsuha, shaking. Which only made Tatsuha's smile grow, because the guy looked cute in nothing but boxers and a t-shirt.

"You, what are you…" Taki was beginning to remember what had happened last night, but that still didn't explain why he'd been subjected to the boy's wandering hands.

"You looked so sweet and cuddly. How could I not touch you?" Tatsuha gave an obviously fake pout.

Regaining his composure, Taki gave Tatsuha a glare that the boy was beginning to think deserved it's own patent. "Whatever. It's morning, so you can leave now."

Tatsuha yawned as he sat up, stretching. "You have to give me breakfast first."

With his eyes narrowed, Taki's gaze was near lethal. "Fine. Just let me take a shower first and you can have whatever you want." Laughing to himself, Tatsuha got up, stretching. He hadn't changed his clothes since yesterday and he was ready for a shower.

He began to slowly peel off his shirt. "Just let me-"

"You're not joining me. You so much as come near me in the shower and I'll kill you." And with that, Taki walked into the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it. Tatsuha let go of his shirt, disappointed for a moment.

"Awww, no fun man." Tatsuha looked down at his clothes once more, sniffing at his shirt. He wrinkled his nose and then head out towards his motorcycle, thankful that he had always carried spare clothes.

* * *

Tatsuha was tempted to just ignore the death threat and join Taki in the shower. In the past he had found that his more tenacious prey always melted when they saw just what was hiding away under the layers of clothes. Some people even came at the sight, so strong were his powers of attraction. The problem was that Taki would probably bludgeon him to death before those mighty pheromones could take effect. 

Instead, he changed clothes and killed time on the couch. A lot of time, since Taki liked long showers apparently. At least Taki's tv was nice, since he actually believed in cable. Eiri, despite all his money, had never liked cable tv, saying that he had no use for a hundred channels of crap, when ten would suffice.

He continued changing channels till he stopped on a music station that was playing a Nittle Grasper video. He drooled as he watched Ryuichi move provocatively on the stage and grinned appreciatively when Noriko appeared and cringed when it focused on Tohma. He may have once thought his brother-in-law handsome, but after that one time he'd seen Tohma get to second base with his sister, he couldn't quite think of him as a sexual object, not without Mika somehow being thrown into the mix.

As the camera once again focused on Ryuichi, Tatsuha began to drool some more. "Your hard on is showing." Tatsuha looked up to see Taki standing behind the couch, looking at him like he was a diseased rat. The singer was dressed up in button up shirt and some rather expensive looking designer jeans. He was drying his hair with a towel as he looked down at Tatsuha.

Tatsuha glanced down at his pants, which were not tented up. "It is not." Which was an uncommon occurrence, even if Tatsuha had learned to practice some self discipline when not in his own home. "And even if it was, look at him!" Tatsuha gestured wildly towards the screen. "He's the hottest thing alive! It's impossible to look upon his greatness and not feel at least a stirring of desire!"

Taki looked at the screen and shrugged. "I don't feel anything when I look at him." And everything was silent, save for the tv, as Tatsuha stared at him like he was some sort of baby eating cannibal.

"It's Ryuichi Sakuma! A music legend!" He was now livid and began to gesture even more wildly than before as if to somehow prove his point. It was impossible that this guy didn't feel anything towards Ryuichi Sakuma. Simply, utterly impossible that he had been physically attracted to such a being.

Dropping the towel on Tatsuha's head, Taki rested his elbows on the back of the couch. "Well yeah. I never said I didn't admire him as a musician. I just don't give a fuck about how hot he supposedly is."

"Are you in denial about you sexuality?" Despite the blaring of the tv, there was silence as the two looked at each other. Tatsuha didn't know if he was going to be smacked, but he honestly had been wondering what Taki's feelings on the gay issue were.

After a few minutes, Taki shrugged. "No. I'm perfectly secure in it." Tatsuha wasn't surprised by the vagueness of the answer. He had figured Taki for the type to like lies by omission.

"Really?" Tatsuha turned around and sat on his knees so that his face was level with Taki's. "Then how about doing the bedroom tango to prove it. If you're so secure in your sexuality, then you won't mind doing it with a guy. It'll just be sex to you."

For a few minutes, it looked like had hit a nerve and that Taki was going to throw a fit. "I have nothing to prove." And just like that, Taki turned away from him, effectively brushing him off. "You said you wanted breakfast, right?" Tatsuha glared holes into Taki's back as he walked into the kitchen. He may have liked it when they played hard to get, but there came a point at which Tatsuha drew the line.

* * *

"You know, I could get fried eggs anywhere. I could make fried eggs myself. You could have made me a million things better than fried eggs." Tatsuha pushed them around on the plate. He'd taken one bite and while they were actually pretty good, he was disappointed that he wasn't having… Well, he didn't know what he had expected; just that it would have been something more expensive or fancier. He'd always assumed that the rich folk of Tokyo ate things that the rich of Kyoto did not. 

"Stop your bitching. You asked me to feed you and I did. Besides, they're good for you." Taki had finished his plate right away, apparently assuming that Tatsuha would have done the same and that the boy would have been gone after this.

Groaning, Tatsuha pushed his plate away, feeling like a petulant child. "You're like my mother. Or," Tatsuha smirked slyly, "my wife." He thought he could see Taki get just a little red in the face.

Crossing his arms, Taki looked away, which confirmed that Tatsuha had hit a nerve. "I only cooked for you because you were whining like a little brat."

The line didn't sit well with Tatsuha, because he hated being reminded that he technically wasn't an adult yet. "I'm not a brat. And even if it was, it's better than being some old hack whose barely hanging on."

* * *

He didn't have much time to be pleased with the little rhyme he'd made, because the next thing Tatsuha knew, he had been thrown out on his ass. Turned out that when properly motivated, Taki was quite strong. He got up, rubbing his rear end and scowling at the door. It was tempting to pound on it like a little brat, yelling and screaming loudly. At the very least, it would annoy the older man to no end. 

Fortunately, there was a little voice in his head that was telling him to pull back for the moment and lure his prey into a false sense of security. Besides, he needed to do some research. It was time to pick Eiri's brain, which was always a pleasant, if dangerous activity.


	9. Edge

Title: Edge  
Author/Artist: Silvermagess  
Pairing: TatsuhaxTaki fic  
Fandom: Gravitation  
Theme: #5. "ano sa" ("hey, you know...")  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or this series.

"Hey, earth to Taki. Earth to Taki." Taki blinked at the hand waving in front of his face, then shoved it away and glared at Ma-kun, who looked worried. "Don't look at me like that man. You're the one who's been in a daze lately."

"I have not been in a daze." He got up and stretched, looking around. "Where's Ken?" Their keyboardist tended to disappear quite often, due to his quiet nature and it sometimes became almost impossible to find him.

Giving him a 'you've got to be shitting me look,' Ma-kun sighed. "What do you think he's doing? He's making sure everything's set up before we go on. You told him to, remember?"

"Uh yeah, right." Taki looked around quickly, having a paranoid moment. They were having a concert that night, along with several other bands under the label they had signed with.

"Hey you know, I've been meaning to ask: is something wrong with you?" Ma-kun said it carefully, the way he normally did when he was trying to get Taki to admit to some sort of wrong doing.

Feeling his frustration beginning to mount, Taki decided to play dumb. "Wrong, what do you mean wrong?"

Ma-kun scratched his chin, looking a little nervous. "You seem really paranoid and fidgety lately. More so than normal I mean. Like you're worried that something is going to jump out and eat you."

He'd been that obvious? "Trust me, I'm not. I'm just tired from all the work we've been doing lately. Been sitting on my ass so much, that I forgot how tiring it could be." It was bullshit, but it was the best that Taki could come up with.

Ma-kun looked at him doubtfully, then nodded. "Just take it easy man." He patted him on the back. "I'm going to see how the set up's going."

Taki watched him as he left. He hadn't mentioned Tatsuha to either Ma-kun or Ken, not wanting them to worry. After everything that had happened with NG, Ken and Ma-kun had become over protective of him, jumping at any bit of erratic behavior on his part. He didn't like it, but he wasn't resentful either, because he'd have done the same or worse, kicking them of the band if it had come down to it.

Which was the other reason why he didn't want them to know. Taki knew that he was damn lucky they had forgiven him. But, that forgiveness could only go so far. If they heard about the Tatsuha thing they might just cut and run. It wouldn't matter if he said that it was all the boy's doing. It'd look like he was up to something.

Still, he hadn't heard from the boy in over a week, which he took to be a good sign. Because, he honestly didn't know how to deal with him. Tatsuha's persistence scared him, because the boy honestly didn't know what he was getting into. And those types, the ones who didn't understand the consequences were the most dangerous of all.

* * *

In a week, Tatsuha had not gotten much accomplished. It wasn't easy bringing up a subject that would get him smacked by his brother. He'd been trying to go for something subtle that wouldn't get him smacked, but hadn't thought of a good way of bringing it up. Tonight was going to be different though. A televised concert was supposed to play tonight, ASK among the acts. It was a perfect opportunity to bring up the subject without looking suspicious. 

That night, it was just him and Eiri, since Shuichi had gone over to his parents and hadn't gotten back yet. Tatsuha had made sure to camp out on the couch, knowing that Eiri would be bored, without his lover and with no novel to work on at the moment. "What are you still doing here?" Eiri was glowering at him right now, holding a pot of what looked to be pasta in an oven mitt covered hand. "Is there another girl claiming you knocked her up? Or some jealous boyfriend?"

"Am I not allowed to spend time with my favorite sibling?" Despite how seriously he said it, Tatsuha was moments away from cracking up, as he had never gotten used to the idea of his brother being domestic. Eiri was not amused though. In fact, he seemed just a little more annoyed than before.

"You know that I can sense your crap from a mile away."

"You kiss Shuichi with that mouth?" Tatsuha was leaning forward, staring at the tv, intent on ignoring his brother. Despite how mature he acted, it drove Eiri bat shit when he got ignored.

"He likes it apparently. You hungry, leech?" Tatsuha looked up at him, scanning Eiri's face, to see if he had the look of someone who might have just poisoned dinner. After a few minutes, he became content, that despite the acidity in his voice, Eiri didn't look like he'd been contemplating murder.

"Always." He reached out for the pot, which Eiri deftly held away from him.

"Then come in the kitchen. You're not getting food all over my couch."

Tatsuha sat back down, waving him off. "I'll eat later then. Right now I'm watching something."

"I'm not saving any for you." Eiri walked back into the kitchen, but not before throwing a disdainful look over his shoulder at Tatsuha.

"You're going to get fat." Tatsuha yelled at him, laughing. "Then Shuichi will run to me, because he'll want to remember what it's like fuck with a fit Yuki Eiri."

"By the time that happens, you're going to be bald." Eiri called from the kitchen.

"No I won't. The old man's like, well I don't know, he's become more lenient on some of that stuff." More like, he'd finally given up on Eiri and since Tatsuha had always been the favorite anyways, the old man was willing to let him get away with breaking some of the traditions. "You should visit more often. It'd do you good to come home once in a while."

"You aren't here to drag me home, are you?" Eiri's voice now sounded accusing, like he did when talking to Mika.

"No. My whole life doesn't revolve around you." The act that was playing on the tv right now was the standard pop princess idol affair, the girl's hair the color of blue cotton candy. She was cute, if you liked the lolita type. Tatsuha preferred older women, with all their curves, heavy makeup and sexy lingerie.

"Say that when you stop spending weeks at a time here." Tatsuha rolled his eyes, silently mouthing Eiri's' words sarcastically. After about fifteen minutes, Eiri came out with a pack of beers and sat down on the couch, dropping the case between them. "So, what are we watching?" He asked as he opened a can and started to chug it down.

Grabbing his own beer, Tatsuha did the same as Eiri. "A concert. It's a couple of different acts together."

"Well, it's not a Nittle Grasper concert. You don't look like you're about to come." Tatsuha bit his tongue this time, deciding not to say anything. Eiri was right where he wanted him, which was all that mattered.

"No, it's a new group I discovered. They're not part of NG. Or at least not anymore." Tatsuha hadn't been able to find out much about why ASK had been cut from NG, despite how many websites he'd surfed

Eiri looked at him, slightly amused, which was apt to happen when he was drinking. "Is this because of some chick or some guy?"

What was the point in lying when Eiri had hit it right on the head? "You could say that."

* * *

Performing was what Taki lived for. The mere thought of getting to be on stage caused his heart to beat faster. There was only one thing he really hated about it: the waiting. As he waited, every negative thought he'd had that day would enter his head, making him more and more irritated. Before Shuichi Shindou, it had just been silly little concerns, the typical worries of a perfectionistic personality. Now though, there was always something looming in his mind. 

In particular, someone with dark hair and predatory eyes. "That stupid boy…"

A hand clapped on his shoulder, causing Taki to jolt. "What stupid boy?" Looking back, he saw Ken standing there, sunglasses obscuring his thoughts as usual.

"Nothing." Taki gasped as he placed a hand over his rapidly beating heart. Ken was like a ghost sometimes, remaining quiet until he found the right moment to scare the shit out someone. Granted, he didn't do it on purpose, but it was still annoying.

"You're not talking about Shindou, are you?" Taki wanted to kick himself. After everything that had happened, Ken and Ma-kun had been overly protective or perhaps a better word was restrictive.

"No, I'm not talking about Shindou." Really, it was like that thought he masturbated to the boy's pictures or something, the way his band mates acted.

"What other stupid boys are there?" Okay, Ken was being unusually on the ball today. Normally he backed off sooner than this or waited for Ma-kun to come along and back him up.

"Listen, it's nothing." And now, even though he couldn't see it, he could tell that Ken didn't believe him. Taki wouldn't have believed himself either.

Before things could get drastic, one of the stage hands peeked inside. "Hey you guys, you're on next. Your guitarist is all set, so you better get out there too." Nodding, Ken and Taki left, Taki sighing in relief. Now if Ken would just forget all about it.

* * *

"People actually like this stuff? She's just another ditzy little diva." Apparently, Eiri didn't care much for the blue pop princess. Which amused Tatsuha to no end, because despite his bitching, Eiri hadn't left the couch. 

"Considering who you sleep with, I don't think you should be saying anything." The girl had finished up her last song by now and was leaving the stage. The tv cut to commercial at that moment.

Eiri opened up his sixth beer, shrugging. "Trying to be funny?"

"You trying to be mature?" The commercial cut back to the show, just in time for the band he had been waiting for. Eiri's eyes darkened and his mood turned sour when he saw what band was going to be playing.

"This is what you were waiting to watch?" The reaction was better than what Tatsuha could have hoped for. He hadn't expected to get Eiri's poker face to drop like that. Well, most people wouldn't have noticed the difference, because it was so subtle, but there it was.

"Yeah. They're called ASK or something. All the girls at school like them, so I figured I should check them out." Eiri looked tense, but didn't say anything as they watched the concert. In fact, other than his tenseness, Eiri wasn't doing anything interesting. Tatsuha eventually decided to just focus on watching Taki, which was just as worthwhile. This was the first time he'd ever seen the singer in a setting where he wasn't being antagonistic. His performance was exciting and sexy, which was a given, but he was also more relaxed. It was interesting to see Taki when he wasn't being a spazz.

After about forty minutes, Eiri had started throwing back beers faster than usual. He was in one of those moods where he was really pissed, but wanted to hide it for some reason. Tatsuha wanted to probe him, except he had the sense that he might just get clocked. And then, something interesting happened.

The door slammed opened and in walked Shuichi. "Yuki! Did you make supper?" Eiri moved so fast that Tatsuha couldn't see him, but suddenly the channel had been changed and he was getting off the couch, heading towards Shuichi.

"Hey, I was watching that." Tatsuha frowned at Eiri, wondering what was going on.

"Watching what?" Shuichi had bounded into the living room and was staring at the tv, which had been changed to a random news station.

"Nothing." Eiri said as he gave Tatsuha the dirtiest look he had ever received. Before Shuichi could try and ask again, Eiri gave the boy a smooch, which silenced him. "There's leftovers in the fridge. Make sure you heat them up." Eiri started to walk towards their bedroom, clearly saying what he wanted to do with Shuichi after he was done eating.

"I'm not that hungry." Shuichi was hurrying after Eiri, having apparently gotten the signal. They both disappeared into the bedroom, no doubt getting down to business the moment they entered. Tatsuha rolled his eyes, groaning.

"If I ever get like that with anyone, I'm going to put a bullet in my head." He was happy for his brother, but he didn't like some of the ways he'd changed. It was like he'd lost his edge or something. Either way, it wasn't something Tatsuha liked. The same thing had happened to Mika when she fell for Tohma. He flicked the tv back to the station it had been on, sure that Shuichi and Eiri would be gone for hours. At the very least though, he knew a little more about what was going on. It had something to do with Shuichi. What it was though wasn't obvious. He'd have to find Taki and see what a little name dropping did.

* * *

The moment they had gone on stage, Taki had lost himself in the feeling of absolute power. Here he could be himself, yet not himself. On stage, he was powerful and millions of people shared in that demonstration. It allowed him to get into touch with a part of himself that he normally liked to hide away. 

How could anyone risk this? How could Shindou, Yuki Eiri or Seguchi risk this just for some trivial matter of the heart? As he'd often say to Ma-kun and Ken-chan, should the day come that he, Taki Aizawa, ever get his head muddled over someone, they'd better put him out of his misery and fast. Because he wasn't going to lose his edge.

Of course, as he'd probably end up thinking later on, the very idea had been ludicrous. Not because he was incapable of love, but because Ken and Ma-kun would never have had the guts to actually kill him off.


	10. Giving Up

Title: Giving up  
Pairing: TatsuhaxTaki  
Fandom: Gravitation  
Theme: #29 The sound of waves  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or this series and I don't profit from this work.  
Warning: A minor OC appears in this chapter, but only because she was necessary to the plot.

"A date?" Taki stared at the dark haired woman in front of him, narrowing his eyes. Shizuru Okayasu was a great publicist, but she was also a major pain in the ass. A thirty something woman who liked to prey on much younger men, she flirted with anyone younger than her, regardless of the danger to her job. Ma-kun had alluded to some heavy make out session and Ken couldn't exactly look her in the eye. But, she'd lately been focusing her attention completely on Taki and it was getting on his nerves. She'd finally ended up calling Taki out to the studio's lounge, knowing that he wouldn't want to make a scene. Despite how rash he was, Taki didn't like embarrassing himself in front of others, especially people he worked with.

"Yes. You do know what a date is, don't you Tachi?" Taki gritted his teeth, close to smacking the woman, but resisted, least things escalate. Shizuru may have been his publicist, but she had made it perfectly clear what would happen if she was displeased in any way and Taki wasn't a fan of his indiscretions being made public save for when it suited him.

It looked like he didn't have much of a choice, so he decided to just grin and bear it. "Yes, I do know what a date is. So where do you want to go?" This wouldn't be the first time he'd gone out on a date with someone he disliked, though he normally had more control over the situation than this.

"I know this great little cafe.."

* * *

Tatsuha had decided to wait a few days before paying Taki another visit. Absence would make the heart grow fonder. Besides, he had to feeling that Taki couldn't take too much being thrown at him, so it would be better if the older man had sometime to relax, before he reached the breaking point. Plus, he wouldn't come off looking like the obsessed freak Taki thought he was.

When it was finally time to pay him a visit again, Tatsuha spent a few minutes waiting outside the apartment, trying to figure out what his approach would be this time. Just as he had finished formulating his plan, he saw Taki come out of the apartment, looking annoyed and dressed to kill, a look which suited him. Tatsuha watched as Taki got into his car and pulled out of the driveway, making no move to stop him.

Instead, Tatsuha revved his motorcycle and followed him. He ended up following the car all the way to Tokyo Bay. Taki eventually ended up parking by a small cafe in an upscale neighborhood and entering. Tatsuha waited a few minutes before going in, finding a seat that was in a spot where he could watch Taki without being seen by him, picking up an abandoned newspaper that had been left sitting nearby, so that he could hide his face. As a waitress came to take his order, a woman entered and headed towards where Taki was sitting, taking a seat across from him.

The woman was about thirty, with long dark hair, and a body that wouldn't quit, if Tatsuha was able to judge by the way her Versace dress accentuated her figure. His type if ever there was such a thing. Apparently Taki's type as well, though, by the set of his shoulders, he could tell Taki was not in a good mood. Once he got his coffee, Tatsuha made sure to change seats, finding one that was a close enough so that he could hear what they were talking about.

"You don't need to be so shy, you know." The woman had a sultry purr to her voice, the type that Tatsuha was all too familiar with, despite his how young he was. It was the same voice his girlfriends used on him whenever they were trying to be forceful.

The teenager liked it personally, though it appeared that Taki wasn't a fan of seductive voices, as her tone only seemed to set him more on edge. "I'm not being shy." Tatsuha had the feeling that if Taki could have, he would have committed some act of violence.

The woman pouted, looking really cutesy, despite her age, like a high school girl. "Oh come on Tachi. What do you have against me? Really?"

"Nothing personal. Man-eaters like you are alright in my book. It's the fact that you keep flirting with _me _that's the problem." Taki seemed to have relaxed a little, as if he dealt with pushy women all the time, though he still looked like he was being put out.

"I thought you liked flirting, you egotistical boy." Tatsuha resisted the urge to laugh, knowing it to be true, despite how Taki acted.

"Yes, but I'm not interested in old hags." The remark was incredibly cutting and tactless, but delivered authoritatively. It made him think of something Eiri would say, except his brother usually chose not to insult a woman to her face, unless it was Mika.

Tatsuha could make out the sudden twitch on the woman's face, though she was covering it up with a smile. "Tachi, you know I could break you if I wanted to."

"You do know that sexual harassment is a crime?" Tatsuha personally wouldn't' have minded if he got sexually harassed by a woman like her, but he guessed some people were picky.

"A young man like you, who's all alone though..." She leveled him with a predatory gaze. "Taki, I'm doing you a favor." She was fingering the rim of her coffee mug, tapping it with a painted nail occasionally. "Now, if you were taken, it'd be a different matter entirely. I don't like being involved in affairs. Too messy."

"You don't say." It was obvious that Taki didn't believe her and normally Tatsuha wouldn't' have except, you could never tell with the older, richer ones.

"Either that or you're gay. Which ever one it is, I'm okay with." The moment she said it an idea started to form in Tatsuha's head, a reckless one, but one that was also too good to pass up. Tatsuha decided to hold back though and wait until the moment was perfect.

There was a clang of silverware and one could sense just how angry Taki really was. "I am not gay!"

The woman now seemed to have a bored expression on her face. "Not gay, not dating anyone, so what's the hold up?"

Tatsuha had to admit that he liked the lady's style. And what was more, he liked the opportunity that she was providing him with. Tatsuha got up and ambled on over there, mentally preparing himself for the role he'd have to play.

"Taki! What are you doing here?" Tatsuha feigned shock perfectly. "And with a woman!"

The woman and Taki were both just as stunned. Well, Taki looked more like he'd just been shot between the eyes. "Aizawa-san, who is this?" The woman had a demanding tone to her voice and she didn't look amused at all.

"That's..." Taki seemed to have trouble getting his mouth to work, which was understandable considering the circumstances. Tatsuha decided to add even more fuel to the fire.

Putting a hand to his brow as if he were a heartbroken school girl, Tatsuha made sure to sound chocked up. "You're so cruel, Taki. Going on a date with a woman when you have me." Tatsuha felt that he deserved an award for the performance he was giving. It certainly seemed to be working on the woman.

"So you really are gay?" She didn't seem amused at all, her lips pursed together in a thin, red, angry line.

Taki's face was almost the same shade of red as he lip stick actually. "No I'm not! He's lying! He's just some creepy stalker!"

Tatsuha began to rub his eyes, making a slight hiccupping noise. Besides being a great actor, he was also well versed in the art of crying. "This is just because I'm a guy and because I'm too young and..." He now made as if to blubber uncontrollably. It was easy really, you just had to imagine a really strong onion.

The older woman's anger was now replaced with a mortified look. "No, really it was just a business meeting. I wasn't trying to take your boyfriend." She got up from her seat and bowed, then glared at Taki. "Aizawa-san, I'll let this slide, since it is rather scandalous and I can understand why you'd hide it, but next time, I'd appreciate it if you were a little blunter."

Tatsuha managed not to laugh and instead mustered a weak smile, as if what the woman had said meant the world to him. "You're a really nice lady. I hope you find a nice boyfriend."

Through his tears, Tatsuha could see an enchanted look on the woman's face, the type women got when looked at newborn babies or kittens and puppies. "You're a real sweet heart. If that guy ever dumps you and you decide you're not gay anymore, just give me a ring." Shizuru grabbed her purse, slinging it over her shoulder. "I'll leave you guys to make up. Try not to be hard on him, okay?" She gave Tatsuha a wink, before heading off.

Taki just watched her go as Tatsuha sat down in her now vacated seat. "Man, chicks are too easy. They see a guy cry and they begin to think that he's all sensitive and shit and that they better take him seriously." Taki was now glaring at him, his hands clenching the table.

"You little..."

"What? You looked like you were in a tight spot, so I decided to help you." Taki got up abruptly and started heading for the door with out another word. "Hey wait!" Tatsuha hurried after him, but Taki was already out the door.

* * *

The rage that was now gripping him had only left Taki enough sense to realize that he probably shouldn't be driving, so he'd just walked right past his car, heading towards the nearby beach. The loud crash of waves was almost enough to drown out his thoughts, along with the overwhelming smell of salt. The beach it's self was private property apparently, thus it was empty of people, for which Taki was thankful.

"Hey I said wait up!" Hearing Tatsuha call out only caused Taki to speed up. "Stop it now!" Taki felt a hand clasp onto his shoulder and stopped moving. They were standing just out of reach of the waves at that moment. "What the fuck is your problem?"

"My problem? What's my problem is?" Taki turned around, pushing Tatsuha's hand away. "You don't get it, do you? Do you know what your little stunt made me look like?"

Tatsuha shrugged, sliding his hands into his pockets. "So, one lady thinks you're queer. So what?"

"Do you know what it'd do to my career if that ever got out? You want to turn me into a fucking laughing stalk? Or worse, get me arrested because everyone thinks I'm screwing around with a minor?" Not to mention what Seguchi and Eiri Yuki would do to him.

"Then give me what I want!" Tatsuha grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "If you'd just tell me what I want to know, I wouldn't bug you anymore!"

"I'm not telling you a fucking thing!" Taki tried to get out of his grasp, only to find that Tatsuha was gripping him too hard. "Get your hands off me!" Taki pry Tatsuha's finger's off without much luck.

"Not until you give me something!" Taki tried to shove him away again, which caused Tatsuha to tighten his grip ever more, to the point of nearly bruising him. Taki resorted to kicking the boy in the shin as hard as possible, causing Tatsuha to let go. Just as he turned to run though, Taki felt a hand grip the back of his shirt, causing him to stumble and fall face down, dragging Tatsuha down with him.

"Get off!" Tatsuha had managed to fall right on top of him and was purposely making it so that he couldn't get up

"Just chill!" Emphasizing his point, Tatsuha shoved Taki's face down into the sand. It was few minutes before Taki stopped struggling and finally went limp. "There, that's better. Now if I get off of you and let you up, you won't run away or make a scene, will you?"

Taki nodded, his face muffled by the sand. Tatsuha eased off him and Taki sat up on his knees and brushed the sand off his face. "I hate you." Tatsuha stared at him for a few minutes, then leaned forward and kissed him. Taki stared at him like he was some sort of idiot. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You looked kinda cute like that, that's all." Taki wasn't sure if he wanted smack Tatsuha for trying to sweet talk him or not. After a few minutes, he decided that no, he didn't want to start another fight. Because he was suddenly felt exhausted, like he'd been fighting some long battle and couldn't take another step.

"You're unbelievable." Taki got up, shaking his head. "And what are you going to do about Okayasu?" Taki didn't want to think about Shizuru winking at him, being secretly supportive of his "gay relationship."

"What do you mean? That's your problem, not mine." Tatsuha grabbed a box of cigarettes from his pocket and tapped one out, lighting it. "Besides, I thought you wanted her out of your hair?"

Taki once again felt the urge to kill him, but managed to fight it. It just wasn't worth it. "Not like that. She's going to be impossible to work with from now on."

"Nothing I can do about that. Though maybe I'll send her some pictures." Tatsuha had thoughtful look on his face. 'She looks like the kind of chick into that stuff."

Taki groaned, then shrugged, deciding that he didn't want to know what kind of pictures those would be. "Hey, you want some coffee or something? I mean since you're here and I'm here." He said, noticing the gleam in Tatsuha's eyes.

"That's cool. Can I have whatever I want?" Taki shrugged, not wanting to answer verbally. If he did, it'd be like entering into some dangerous contract. Though as they'd headed back to the cafe, he had a sense that the contract he'd entered into already was just as dangerous.


	11. Ground Rules

Title: Ground Rules  
Pairing: TatsuhaxTaki  
Fandom: Gravitation  
Theme: #12. In a good mood  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or this series and I don't profit from this work. 

The moment they sat down in the cafe and the waitress handed Tatsuha the menu, the boy had made sure to order the most expensive item there was. "I'm not made of money." Taki looked out the window sulkily, determined not to enjoy himself.

"You have more money on you than I do." Tatsuha snickered as if Taki had said something incredibly stupid. "Who would you have to spend it on besides me?"

"Listen, we need to talk about this annoying personality trait of yours." The waitress had came back and set down a huge plate of what had to be the most fattening, carb loaded cake known to man. Tatsuha eyed it as he picked up his fork and knife, beginning to drool.

"And that is?" Not meeting Taki's eyes, Tatsuha went to work on the cake, savoring each bite before swallowing. It was a little distracting, but the whole boy was a distraction in a sense, so Taki decided to do his best and not pay attention to his eating habits.

He just had to stand his ground and not let the boy's overconfidence get to him. "The way you keep just barging in and doing whatever you want without my say so." And just making a mess of his life in general.

"That's not a personality trait. That's a habit. And you like it otherwise you'd have stopped me by now." Tatsuha gave him a chocolate smudged smile before whipping off his lips. He hadn't even made it through an eighth of the cake yet.

"Listen, I don't..." Taki thought better of his denial though. Tatsuha would just twist it around and confuse him further. "The point is, we need to lay down some ground rules."

Tatsuha stared at him for a moment, than shrugged. "Okay, shoot." For a moment, Taki was stunned by the fact that there had been no big protest, but then continued

"First, no more stalking me." He let the "or else" hang there silently, even though he truly didn't know what he could do to get through to Tatsuha. The fact was, any public fallout from this would be worse for Taki than for Tatsuha. In the end, it was going to come down to who could bluff their way through this. Taki may have lost the first few rounds, but he wanted to win this one, to see if he could.

Tatsuha didn't seem to like this first rule in any event, so it was definitely going to take all the will power Taki had. "I'm not stalking you." Tatsuha returned to the cake at that moment, as if Taki had been talking about the weather.

Choosing not to be put off by his indifference, Taki continued. "Rule number two, no clinging to me in public." Tatsuha didn't say anything as he continued to eat his cake. "And no claiming we're together."

"Fine, whatever you say." The way he said it and the fact that Tatsuha wasn't even looking at him lead Taki to doubt that he'd even heard him. In fact, the boy's eyes had a slightly glazed look to them.

Sighing to himself, Taki continued, hoping that Tatsuha was one of those types who learned through osmosis. "Third, you don't' get to mooch off me." The boy choked on the mouth full of cake he'd had in his mouth.

"I don't have any money on me!" He said as managed to swallow the cake, pounding his chest as if that would help it go down faster.

Despite himself, a smirk crossed Taki's face. The boy was just such an unbelievable idiot, though in a charming way. Didn't change the fact that he was an idiot though. "I meant after today."

For a moment, Tatsuha seemed relieved, then he raised his spoon in protest. "I can't even raid the fridge?" The conversation was beginning to remind him of college when he had made the mistake of rooming with Ma-kun.

So much so that he gave the exact same answer he had given back then. "Not even that." Unlike Ma-kun though, Tatsuha didn't pitch a fit, but merely dug back into his cake.

"Do I get a key?"

"Why should I give you a key?"

"Because, it'll be fun. Besides, if you don't, I'll just make one of my own. I know this locksmith who-"

Not wanting to really know why a locksmith would help out Tatsuha, Taki cut him off. "Okay, I'll give you your damn key." The boy's face lit up in a way that the singer hadn't thought possible and that for some reason, he liked it.

"You sound so grudging about it." He grinned as he dipped his spoon into the desert and then held it in front of Taki. "Here: something to sweeten you up a little."

Taki made a face and turned away. "No thanks." But, Tatsuha once again held the spoon toward him, giving him a cheesy grin. Taki glanced around and when he saw that no one was looking, he took the spoonful into his mouth. It was rich, luscious and overpoweringly chocolaty, just the way he liked it.

"See, if you just listen to me and do what _I_ say, you'll be a lot more content." Tatsuha shoved the rest of the plate of cake towards Taki.

"Don't get over confidant." Taki glared at him as he began to finish off the cake. "I'm not going to give you anything in return."

"But, you already have." Tatsuha was grinning mischievously and Taki was half tempted to give the cake back. In the end though, he decided that he might as well keep his sinful prize.


	12. Progress

Title: Progress  
Pairing: TatsuhaxTaki  
Fandom: Gravitation  
Theme: #13. Excessive Chain  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or this series and I don't profit from this work.  
Notes: This chapter is meant as more of a segway between the last chapter and the next, just to show a quick progression in time. 

Actions have consequences. It might happen a long way down the road, but there were consequences for everything that happened. Sometimes the chain of events was excessive considering what had happened, the whole a butterfly flaps its wings and the chaos theory caboodle. Or it was like taking a day to stare longingly at NG studios and then suddenly finding yourself blackmailed by a pervert who could end your career, get you killed or at the very best, was going to have his wicked way with you if you bent over to pick up the remote at the wrong moment.

So far, things hadn't been too severe. The boy had bummed around his apartment, upping his cable bill, playing his video games and eating his food, making perverted comments or asking nosy questions that had nearly caused Taki to slap him a number of times. Then he'd leave and go away, presumably to his brother's or to fuck someone. Things were peaceful and Taki hated it, because things just had to explode. That was the way these things worked. You did something stupid, something you knew you shouldn't and it blew up in your damn face.

Of course, maybe instead of one big explosion, it was the little ones he should have been worried about. Like that fact that the teenager liked to sneak into his bedroom in the middle of night and snuggle up to Taki. Or when Tatsuha drank all the beer in the fridge and left a note demanding that Taki buy him more. It really was like the boy thought he owned the place and Taki had to wonder how he managed on his own, since the boy never cooked, cleaned or did ANYTHING!

It was enough to leave Taki fuming and there were many times when he had been ready to cut the boy out of his life like the cancerous sore he was before the infection spread. Yet, every time he resolved to do it, Tatsuha would suddenly do something to prove he was nearly, well, human. Such as ridding Taki of more persistent would-be girlfriends than he'd ever have been able to deal with on his own. Granted, he had no idea how Tatsuha was doing it and had the sneaking suspicion that his rep had been horribly ruined, but it didn't really matter in the end, since he'd gone a couple of weeks without being harassed.

But, most of all, Taki found that he liked Tatsuha's backrubs, as gay as they made him feel afterwards and it was enough assuage any ill feelings, he had, until the latest disaster came about. The first time Tatsuha had done it had been totally unexpected and unsolicited. Possibly because Taki had come home from a concert and had been demanding that Tatsuha get out of his place (why the boy had a key to Taki's apartment, he couldn't recall) and suddenly the boy's hands had been on his back and shoulders and damn, if something that good was wrong, then well, Taki would gladly accept being labeled sick and twisted.

Though sometimes, when he went to sleep, he'd find himself dreaming about sex, with him. It was backsliding motion in his life that Taki was extremely uncomfortable with, because it was simply so unlike him to be doing that and it ran counter to his goals. All Taki could really say in the end was that he didn't like the way this was progressing.

* * *

It was obvious that this thing with Taki was dangerous. Every subtle attempt at trying to get information from Eiri left Tatsuha with chills and he dared not poke his brother any further least he start to really suspect something beyond his brothers usually nosiness. He'd thought about asking Shuichi, but he knew that his brother's lover had loose lips and it would have been only a matter of time before he'd gotten throttled for it. 

Nonetheless, even if he hadn't learned anything, the experience was more than he could have ever bargained for. He was getting a glance into the lifestyle of a celebrity other than Tohma, an experience which would no doubt help him when he finally consummated his dream of gaining Ryuichi Sakuma. Of course, Taki was nothing like Ryuichi, but he really was as good as any other celeb.

And the benefits of such a relationship were many. Tatsuha couldn't count how many girls he'd snagged, who had originally caught an eyeful of Taki, half of whom surprisingly enough didn't realize he was a celebrity. Tatsuha attributed it to how slovenly the older man dressed on his days off, though, not so slovenly that his innate charisma and physical attractiveness was masked. Taki didn't seem to care what happened to the girls who called as long as it didn't implicate him in anyway, shape or form.

That aside, Taki was really no different than a cat or dog. If you were able to pet or scratch one behind the ears, no matter how resistant, most would soon become putty in your hands. That was about how Taki was the moment you started rubbing his shoulders. Tatsuha hadn't meant for it to become a regular thing; he'd just meant it to score some extra points with him that one time, since the guy seemed so dead tired and bitchy and Tatsuha had remembered how one girlfriend, a business executive, would have him give her back and shoulder rubs when she was in the same mood and how it had always guaranteed him mind-blowing sex afterwards.

Sadly, Taki hadn't given him sex for any of those massages, though Tatsuha had sensed that if he had pushed enough, the musician might have eventually given in. He'd resisted though, feeling that his victory would be more complete if Taki didn't give in due to his brain being addled from massage induced please. Regardless though, after the massage was over, Taki would suddenly be cheerful and it would be a good hour or two before he started bitching at Tatsuha again. That was what he called progress.


	13. Actions

Title: Actions  
Pairing: TatsuhaxTaki  
Theme: #17 kHz (kilohertz)  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or this series and I don't profit from this work. 

Being a coinsurer of fine music, or trashy pop music as his father and brother liked to call it, Tatsuha prided himself on having the right equipment. The voice of his idol could only be truly appreciated when it was blasting out at you from the right sound system. Of course, his Dad didn't appreciate it and Tatsuha had often come home to find that his latest sound system had been sold, usually to someone whom it was impossible to bribe. He'd eventually resigned himself to the sad fact that he would have to settle for his own dinky radio or when the opportunity present it's self, Eiri or Mika's superb sound systems that they refused to let him touch (he still managed to do so though.)

Normally he could swallow such disappointment, except for today of all days. He'd gone to Tokyo after hearing a rumor from a friend that there was a shop that possessed an ultra rare Nittle Grasper CD of their live performance in Osaka from 1990. Tatsuha had run countless stop lights on his way there, terrified that it would be gone by the time he arrived. Fortunately, it had not been, though the price had left him with an empty wallet. A real shame as he'd been relying on the rest of the money to buy him breakfast, since he'd skipped it in his rush to get to Tokyo.

The only solution was to mooch off his favorite source of free food at the moment, who would hopefully be home. Besides, Taki had a decent sound system if Tatsuha remembered right, something that was almost worthy of having Ryuichi's voice pouring out of its speakers.

When he'd arrived at the apartment and was ready to knock on the door, Tatsuha had already come up with some smug, overly confidant line to use on the other man, should he decide to act bitchy. When his hand rapped against the door, he was surprised to see it swing open, since the door had always been locked before. Calling out Taki's name as he stepped inside, Tatsuha noticed a large, empty box lying near the door.

Kicking his shoes off, Tatsuha noticed Taki's head peeking at him from the living room. "What are you doing here?" Before Tatsuha could say anything though, Taki just shook his head, sighing in frustration. "Whatever. Since you're here, you might as well help." Taki disappeared from sight before Tatsuha could protest.

When he entered the living room, Tatsuha was just a little taken aback. There was a mess of cords surrounding two massive speakers and Taki appeared to be making an attempt at hooking them up. "It's like you read my mind."

"Huh?" Tatsuha waved the shopping bag containing his new CD in front of Taki's face. Pulling the CD out and looking at it, Taki made a face as he handed it back to Tatsuha. "You came over here just for that?"

Giving Taki an equally dirty look as he took back his CD, Tatsuha sat down on the couch, where he had a good view of what Taki was doing. It looked liked complicated business, something definitely beyond Tatsuha's expertise. "No. I came over here to eat and then listen to my God."

Shaking his head as he reached to plug a long black cord into the back of one the speakers, the annoyed tone in Taki's voice was more obvious than usual. "You're such a pathetic little fanboy." It was almost comforting, the way Taki kept making the same predictable complaints.

"So can I?"

Waving him off with out looking, Taki made a small huffing noise as he started to untangle one of the cords. "Yes, go eat and then help me with this. We'll try your stupid CD out afterwards." Rolling up the now empty shopping back, Tatsuha tossed it so that it smacked into the back of Taki's head.

Getting up and making sure not to look Taki in the eyes, least the other man's glare kill him, Tatsuha headed towards the kitchen. "It's not stupid. Sakuma has more talent in one molecule of hair than you could ever hope to have in a billion years." For a moment, Tatsuha thought he heard the singer curse, but Taki's voice was too quiet for him to make out the exact phrase.

* * *

Setting up the system had been harder than Tatsuha had anticipated, but after about two hours, they'd finally gotten it set up and functioning. "You're a lucky guy, to be able to afford something so, so complicated." There was really no other word that could express what Tatsuha was feeling right now.

"You make that sound like it's a good thing." Taki glanced at him ruefully from his position on the floor next to him, his back leaning against the right side of the couch. Tatsuha looked at him from the left, wishing for a moment that the singer could just lay off the whole bitter and sarcastic bit. It forced the teenager to come up with counter arguments and that wasn't the kind of mental stimulation he could maintain for long periods of time, as enjoyable as it was.

Screwing his lips as he thought, Tatsuha finally settled for the second best answer, since the correct one seemed so elusive. "If you have to work for something that means it must be worth it, right?" It took Taki only five seconds to start laughing at him.

"I never thought I'd hear that kind of idealistic crap spouted from your mouth." Instead of getting annoyed with Taki, Tatsuha decided to favor him with a smirk instead, so as to keep Taki from thinking he'd won.

"I thought singers believed in that sort of thing." Tatsuha made sure to say the line in a way that made it sound good natured, yet still made it obvious that it wasn't meant as a compliment.

"Only the stupid ones." Shrugging, Tatsuha sat up and popped the CD into the player. The first song that started playing was Grasper's infamous "Silent Night Redux," infamous in that Ryuichi was known to slightly change some of the lyrics during each performance. The particular change during the Osaka performance was rumored to be one of the more perverse and daring variations that his idol had ever dreamed up. The music played at a loud beat even though the stereo wasn't turned up to the max, the surround sound effect more than making up for the lack in volume.

"Gotta admit, Sakuma is one lucky bastard, being able to get away with pulling shit like that." The admiration in Taki's voice was obvious, even if he appeared to be giving it grudgingly.

Of course, Tatsuha made sure to spare no expense in his own praise. "That's 'cause he's just that cool." The teenager could have gone on and on about Ryuichi's coolness, but he didn't feel there was any need to overstate what was already common knowledge.

"There's that and the fact that he has all his fans on such a fucking tight leash that they don't think the question what he does anymore." Regardless of how much Tatsuha appreciated Taki's knowledge of the musical world, sometimes he just had to go and say something completely uncalled for and untrue.

If it had been anyone else, Tatsuha would have started a yelling fit, but with Taki, he liked to employ more subtle methods. "You're jealous." The twitch of a vein near Taki's temple was obvious and Tatsuha's smug grin grew. Taki's ego was fragile territory and if you managed to get a hold of it, it was easy to get him to react just the way you wanted him to.

"No I'm not." The rebuttal came quickly and coldly, Taki's voice as serious and business like as if he had been a loan officer who had come to collect the mortgage on your house. As for Tatsuha, he decided to play the part of the pushy telemarketer and not give up or get the point.

Turning to face him, Tatsuha forced a serious look on his face. "Yes you are." At this point, he knew that Taki would either say no again, or take a totally different route. This time the singer chose to go for the second option.

"So what if I am?" By now Tatsuha felt giddy, since he now had the perfect opportunity to trip Taki up.

Giving the singer a smooth smile, the kind Tatsuha reserved for a girl he was cruising, he leaned in towards Taki. "I kinda like that." This was actually the truth in some ways.

Seeing Taki flinch a little and pull backwards filled Tatsuha with satisfaction. "Huh?" It was obvious that Taki was trying not to blush and failing.

Lowering his voice one octave, Tatsuha made sure not to purr, even though he was feeling the primal urge to do just that. "I've been watching your interviews on TV and you act kinda unreal and fake, like you're the most confident guy in the world and have never had to worry about so much as a split end. Nice to see that you're normal." Even though his smile was probably about as charming and sexy as could be, Tatsuha made sure to flash a smile that was even more alluring.

Before Tatsuha could tell if Taki had flushed a darker shade then he already had, the singer quickly looked away. "Screw normal." Even though it wasn't meant that way, Tatsuha decided that Taki had made some sort of challenge.

"Is that a request?" Before Taki could protest, Tatsuha had pushed him to the floor, pinning him down. "Because I'd be more than happy to acquiesce." Tatsuha brushed his lips against Taki's neck, feeling his predatory instincts rising to the forefront.

"If you think you're being endearing when you pull crap like this, you've got another thing coming." Normally Tatsuha wouldn't have something like that ruin the moment, but at that moment, he decided it was time to settle something that had been irritating him for a while.

"I'm not forcing you to do anything you don't want to." Sitting up so that he was straddling Taki's hips, Tatsuha looked down at him coldly. "When have I ever forced you to do anything--anything sexual that is?"

For a moment it looked like Taki was about to get over his sudden bashfulness, only to look away from Tatsuha again. "So what? Not saying no doesn't mean I've said yes. And I have said no to you, hundreds of times."

"I know your type. You say one thing, but your actions say something else." To emphasize his point, Tatsuha ground against Taki a little, adding just enough pressure to elicit a small groan from the other man.

This time, Taki met Tatsuha's eyes with a gaze of steel though. "And what is it that my actions say, oh psychic one?" There were a million things Tatsuha could have told Taki and the singer would have believed half of them and balked or raged at the rest. He decided to go for the vague approach instead.

"I'm not telling you until you figure it out for yourself." Leaning down, Tatsuha gave Taki a kiss or was about to when a small shock coursed through his lips just as they were barely touching his prey's. "Ouch!" Tatsuha jumped back as he rubbed his lips. Sitting up, Taki sucked on his own lip pensively.

"Damn static and damn you for rubbing up against me like that." Cursing to himself over the ruined moment, Tatsuha quickly managed to find an appropriate joke.

"I guess this proves that there are sparks between us." This time Taki didn't take the bait and got to his feet. He walked towards the kitchen, not bothering to look at Tatsuha.

"You are such a sap." Tatsuha didn't say anything until Taki was gone. He walked towards the stereo, turning off the stereo and pulling out his CD. It was only now that he remembered the reason he'd been in Tokyo that day.

"I'm not a sap."


	14. Turn

Title: Turn  
Pairing: TatsuhaxTaki  
Fandom: Gravitation  
Theme: #18. "Say ah"  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or this series and I don't profit from this work. 

The night things took an uncomfortable turn caught Tatsuha off guard and he hadn't even been aware that it had happened, mainly because it had been Shuichi who set it off. Tatsuha should have just taken his bike instead of the bus that night, regardless of the weird noises it had been making. Of course, he hadn't been planning on missing his bus home either and had been relieved when Shuichi had come to pick him up instead of Eiri, who would have griped about it.

"Thanks for the ride man." Tatsuha had said to Shuichi as he got into his brother's car. He should have asked Shuichi if he was supposed to be driving his brother's beloved BMW, but decided that he didn't want to know since the last time the story he'd heard involving Eiri making Shuichi say ahh and then giving the singer an unnecessary throat probing had been a little much, even for someone who prided himself on being a super perv.

"Just don't tell Eiri I did this, okay?" Shuichi gave him a nervous smile, indicating that yes, he didn't have permission. Nodding as Shuichi hit the accelerator, Tatsuha made sure to check his seatbelt. The last ride with Shuichi, while not as bad as Eiri liked to claim, had not left Tatsuha with a safe feeling.

After a few minutes, it was obvious that Shuichi had improved, but Tatsuha still felt the need for something that would take his mind off of the still possible impending doom. "Hey, can I turn on the radio?" Seeing Shuichi nod, he flicked it on and quickly started searching for a station that would be playing a Nittle Grasper song. As he was scanning the stations though, he came across one of ASK's songs and realizing that he had a golden opportunity to feel Shuichi out a little, decided to leave it on that song.

The change in Shuichi's mood was barely noticeable, merely a flicker of a shudder running through his body. "You like this band, Tatsuha?" The curiosity used to mask the tension in Shuichi's voice wasn't lost on Tatsuha, though it was so odd to hear Shuichi get tense about something that didn't have anything to do with Eiri. Though, maybe it did have something to do with his brother.

He thought about Eiri's warning from before, but quickly ignored it. It was much easier to weasel information out of Shuichi, who tended to crack under the slightest bit of pressure. "You know me, always ready to try new things." Which they both knew was a half lie. Tatsuha only tried new things if they didn't involve a choice between Nittle Grasper and something else. They were silent for a while, Shuichi's eyes firmly on the road for once. "Do you want me to turn it off?"

"I'm fine." The way Shuichi bit off the words was highly disconcerting and wasn't exactly the reaction Tatsuha was going for. He couldn't stop though, not until he'd gone as far as Shuichi would let him.

"Is there a reason why this bothers you?"

"No reason. I just like what I like and hate what I hate."

If Shuichi thought Tatsuha believed that, he possessed more stupidity than Eiri gave him credit for. "If it really bothers you, I'll turn it off." After a few minutes, Shuichi nodded tightly and Tatsuha switched it off.

Flashing Shuichi a smile, Tatsuha leaned towards him as close as he dared, since obstructing Shuichi's ability to drive would not be a good idea. "So is there anything I should know?"

"No."

Lowering his voice into a sultry whisper, Tatsuha whispered into Shuichi's ear. "It's just a song." Amazingly enough, Shuichi managed not to swerve or spazz out at all, his usual reaction to Tatsuha invading his personal space.

"Don't ask Eiri about it." The fact that Shuichi had actually said his brother's given name threw Tatsuha completely. The singer had always used his brother's penname, something which had seemed rather cold to Tatsuha and possibly bad for Eiri's health, though it apparently worked for the two of them. "I don't want him angry over nothing."

He was about to ask what Taki could have possibly done, but stopped himself. That would have been giving away too much information. He didn't need Shuichi freaking out and telling Eiri that Tatsuha had run into Taki, since the man apparently was the antithesis of the two's existence.

A slow smile crept onto Shuichi's face, that bitter smile that he usually wore when he was either extremely pissed off or when Eiri had said something that cut him to the bone. "I thought you only ever listened to Sakuma-san."

For a moment, Tatsuha was almost insulted. He did listen to other bands and singers, sometimes. "Why can't I branch out and expand my horizons?" Of course, that wasn't the reason at all, though it sounded pretty cool when he said it out loud.

"Guess I was just amazed." He could hear Shuichi practically asking, "Why him of all people?" Normally, Tatsuha would have been blunt, especially with Shuichi, since someone needed to be and despite Eiri's claims to the contrary, Tatsuha knew for a fact that his brother was not a source of concrete facts. But, he'd have to be careful this time around, since Eiri wouldn't like him prying into the couple's secrets.

"I like what I like." It was just as much a way of not telling Shuichi the truth as a way of daring Shuichi to say something against it. That was how Tatsuha lived his life; if he liked or wanted something he went after it, not giving a crap about what other people said.

"Don't tell Eiri that you listen to this stuff."

"He kinda knows." The realization that both Eiri and Shuichi did know about it struck Tatsuha as potentially bad, but he chose not to worry over it. Any possibly screw up he made tended to work it's self out in the end.

"Oh really? He didn't say anything?"

"Nothing really. Nothing that wasn't Eiri-like." He'd hoped to make Shuichi laugh since the boy liked joking about Eiri's many quirks, but instead saw the frown set on the boy's face more deeply than before. "Did I do something bad?"

"Nothing at all. I just sort of remembered something." The smile Shuichi gave him didn't have Tatsuha fooled for a second, but he decided not to push any further.

As they pulled into the driveway, Tatsuha folded and unfolded his hands. He didn't want to be there just in case Eiri figured out that he'd said something to bother Shuichi. Even though Eiri pretended he didn't care, there were moments when he'd fix Tatsuha with this murderous look if he'd been horsing around with Shuichi a little too roughly.

Trying not get out of the car too fast, Tatsuha forced himself to open the door as slowly as possible and not just bolt away. "I think I'll just take my bike and go." Shuichi blinked at him as he got out of the driver's side.

"But I thought you said it was acting funny?" Slamming the door shut and heading over to his bike, Tatsuha looked over his shoulder at Shuichi, who was diligently locking the car doors, a confused, blank look on his face. It was obvious that Shuichi wasn't really connecting Tatsuha's urge to flee with the conversation they'd had in the car. It was moments like this when Tatsuha found Shuichi's absolute denseness to be not just convenient, but endearing.

It took a few tries before the engine would turn over, but it looked like it was going to cooperate for once. Shuichi, who always had a certain fascination with the machine was staring at it closely by now "It'll get me to Mika's safe and soundly. It's always been there for me when it counted"

As he straddled the bike, he gave Shuichi a final look, noting the way he was worrying at his hands. "But…" Despite the fact that Shuichi was older than him, Tatsuha couldn't stop himself from patting him on the head.

"Just go and give my brother his good night kiss." Before Shuichi could protest, Tatsuha kicked his bike into gear and tore off into the night. He had so many new questions that he didn't know where to start, only who to turn to.


	15. Strange

**Title: **Strange  
**Pairing: **TatsuhaxTaki  
**Fandom: **Gravitation  
**Theme: **#9. Dash  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own these characters or this series and I don't profit from this work.

It went without saying that Taki was acting strangely. One would have thought that Ma-kun was used to it by now. The singer always gave off a strange vibe, although it wasn't always a threatening one. Though lately, the strangeness had been a little more, well, strange than the usual. Taki seemed to shift from being on pins and needles, to being cheerful, to being on pins and needles again. When asked about it, Taki would lie, not realizing that Ma-kun had long ago learned what his face looked like when he was hiding something.

Dear, naïve, Ken had suggested it was a girl. A laughable notion if there ever was one. Taki didn't let girls get to him. They were for sex and maybe, just maybe to be seen, like a trophy. And there were few girls who warranted being Taki Aizawa's trophy. Still, it did warrant investigating and so Ma-kun did what he always did when he wanted to meet an acquaintance of Taki's: he "broke into" his apartment while the singer was gone, hoping to find a clue. Ma-kun had plenty of time to since Taki had gone barhopping and had the ability to party all night long after more seasoned pros had collapsed.

The little things he had been turning up had left him puzzled though. A crumpled carton of cigarettes, which definitely weren't Taki's since the singer didn't smoke and a terribly worn Nittle Grasper CD, which was even stranger since Taki treated any of his music related items like they were made of crystal. He ran his fingers over the scratches of the CD, lost in thought, trying to put the puzzle together.

The elusive answer was not coming to him when the door opened. Smirking to himself, figuring that he could rag on Taki a little, Ma-kun turned around, but he found the greeting on his lips quickly dying away.

Standing in the door way was Eiri Yuki, looking like something out of his nightmares, of which there had been far too many to count. "Fuck…" Ma-kun found himself backing away even as Eiri stepped into the apartment. "Listen man, I don't know what Taki did, but I had nothing to do with it." Had the guy's hair always been black? It wasn't something the guitarist's mind was able to seriously contemplate, but it was obvious enough to interrupt his shaking for a split second.

"Hey, wait I'm not here to kill you." The voice was different somehow, not quite as deep nor as cool.

"What else would it be?" There was a slight aching feeling, as if his body was remembering the blows from when Eiri Yuki had nearly killed him.

The slightly younger looking Eiri Yuki raised his hands up in what was probably supposed to be a conciliatory gesture. "Just keep cool, alright? I'm not my brother." Ma-kun had been about to reach for the lamp, but decided to hold off on acquiring a weapon for the moment.

It was hard not to clutch his ribs, which were beginning to ache all over again. "Who the fuck are you then?" Just as the stranger was about to open his mouth, another, all too familiar voice cut in.

"A fucking thorn in my side, that's what he is." Both turned around in shock, staring at Taki, who had just entered while they'd been focused on each other. There was a look of fury and shock flashing across his face. There was also that slightly guilty look Taki had, whenever he'd been caught doing something he clearly shouldn't have been.

"Tachi?" Ma-kun wanted to go right over there and start shaking the singer, but that would have meant pushing past the mystery man and the guitarist still didn't have enough courage to even try it. "What's going on? Who is he? What is he doing here?" The hidden question of "What are you up to this time?" was lingering on his lips, but throwing out accusations right now would only cause Taki to go into defensive mode.

"I'm his-" Before the boy could solve the mystery for him, Taki grabbed him the sleeve of his t-shirt, pulling him hard.

"You're my nothing!" The harsh hiss of Taki's voice and the way he was grabbing the guy so familiarly caused Ma-kun to highly doubt it. Something told him though that he didn't want to know what this boy was to Taki and it was taking what little was left of Ma-kun's already shaky willpower to not just dash right out that door and into the night.

Suddenly, the stranger's eyes caught Ma-kun's and he saw something glint there. "Awww, don't be so harsh, lover. Aren't you going to give me a smooch?" The way Taki pulled away from him only fueled the blond's suspicions and for some reason, he felt like laughing, because it was too twisted to be true.

Instead of laughing or screaming, he opted for a smile. "Hey, sorry man. Didn't know you were playing house." Seeing the surprised look on Taki's face, Ma-kun couldn't help but chuckle a little. "You should tell me about things like this. Otherwise I wouldn't have thought to bother you." He started walking past Taki, forcing his hands into his pockets so as to not smack the singer.

"Ma…"

"Don't worry about it man. We'll _talk _later." And when they did, Ma-kun was going to wring that pretty little neck of Taki's. Hopefully with Ken to back him up. He flashed a smile at Tatsuha. "Hey, sorry about freaking out on you."

"It's cool. I get that a lot." The cheesy grin on the stranger's face was enough to make Ma-kun wonder how he'd ever mistaken this guy for Eiri Yuki. "But, you better not do it again. Because," at that moment, he slung an arm around Taki's shoulder, much to the singer's mortification, "I'm going to be sticking around for a while."

It was difficult for Ma-kun to fight down the urge to vomit. "Well take care then, uh…"

"Tatsuha."

"Right, Tatsuha-san."

Not waiting to say good bye to Taki, Ma-kun slammed the door behind him and took a moment to breathe. Before he knew it, his feet were moving faster than they ever had in his life and he was dashing to his car. Ken's theory was suddenly not as whacked as it had been, though Ma-kun was wishing it had been.


	16. Opening

Opening  
**Pairing:** TatsuhaxTaki  
**Fandom: **Gravitation  
**Theme: #**6. the space between dream and reality  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own these characters or this series and I don't profit from this work.  
**Notes: **Sorry about the long wait. I kinda forgot to post here. Thanks for your patience. 

"So, I take it you're still pissed at me." It was the fifth time Tatsuha had tried getting a response out of Taki. After the singer had gotten done yelling at Tatsuha, he'd taken to standing in front of the window, staring out at nothing. What little Tatsuha could see of his reflection made it obvious that Taki was just short of boiling over again.

Anyone with half a brain would have left, but Tatsuha had mastered the art of being conveniently stupid. It tended to make up for those moments when willpower wasn't enough on its own. Otherwise he'd have probably yelled back and Tatsuha had no doubt that his quest would have been irreversibly stalled in the mud, something which would have been unforgivable. So apparently Taki and his band had some something to do with his brother and Shuichi and it wasn't good. So what? Eiri's fights weren't his. If that was true, Tatsuha would've had a criminal record by now.

Then again, it was probably because of one of his brother's fights that he was here, as much as Tatsuha hated to admit it. If he had wanted to just lounge around on someone's couch and drink beer there were many other, better options. Options that would have included a willing body. Yet here he was with one of the most frigid bastards he'd ever met and getting an icy, cold shoulder.

The only solution that Tatsuha could think of was to act casual and brag. "You know, I could be hanging out with Ryuichi Sakuma right now if I wanted to. I have the connections." Granted when he'd finally met his idol, it had been an unintended consequence of barging in on Mika's girl's night out, but that wasn't the point. The point was to piss Taki off. "He's so much cooler than you could ever hope to be."

"He's never going to let you fuck him." There was a sound of authority in Taki's voice that nearly threw Tatsuha, since he hadn't been expecting a response right away, let alone such an annoying one.

Despite himself, Tatsuha found a scowl forming on his face. "What makes you so sure of that?" This time, he heard a laugh.

"Because guys at his level don't give a fuck about dumb kids like you." Taki hadn't looked away from the window the whole time. Which was a good thing, because it would be easier for Tatsuha to strangle him if the singer kept being annoying.

He'd heard this crap from his own family far too many times to take it from Taki "Are you saying I'm not at his level? Because I'll have you know, I have hanged with him." He smiled as he remembered the bar, even though that time alone with Ryuichi had been utterly futile.

Of course, Taki was obviously out to burst his bubble as brutally as possible. "How do you know it meant anything? He's probably just playing nice because his girly keyboardist is boffing your sister."

Clenching his teeth, Tatsuha gritted his fists and tried to keep a smug smile on his face. "You're full of crap. I'm an excellent judge of character." Tatsuha Uesugi did not get played; he played others.

"Oh really now?" At that moment, Taki finally pulled away from the window and there was a strange expression that Tatsuha had never seen on the singer's face. So strange that it took him a moment to realize why it was so strange. It was a relaxed, easy going smile, so utterly different from Taki's smirks and frowns that it was as if he was looking at a completely different person.

Before Tatsuha could even begin to think about what was up, Taki had stepped towards him so smoothly that he wanted to call it gliding. Slowly, fingers wrapped themselves around the back of his neck. A tongue swept across Tatsuha's lips and any possible attempt to try and figure out what Taki was doing went out of his head as he was drawn into a deep kiss.

When Taki pulled away, Tatsuha couldn't stop himself from making an embarrassing moaning sound. He had never expected to Taki to make a move on him and having it happen so randomly, as if he was stuck in haze of a mixed up dream. A dream that was abruptly dispelled as Taki shoved him away with a look of disgust.

"Anyone can fake it, especially someone like your precious Ryuichi."

The urge to slug Taki was almost too great to resist, so Tatsuha merely stormed off towards the kitchen as quickly as his legs would carry him. He punched the table and then took a few deep breaths. "He didn't mean it. He's still pissed about that long haired dude finding out about us. Just relax."

"There's no _us_."

Tatsuha looked over his shoulder at Taki and found himself bewildered. He knew Taki was a petty man-it was impossible not to notice-but to got this far? "You're not as good an actor as you think you are." He turned around, his arms crossed as he glared at Taki.

The dry smile on Taki's face was strangely cutting. "Yeah, but good enough. And I'm sure your Sakuma-sama is unreadable." There was no sarcasm there, but Tatsuha didn't feel like getting angry again. If he made it a habit to get pissed off at every little thing Taki did, Tatsuha would have combusted.

"Why would you care about whether he lies to me or not?"

For just a second, he thought Taki looked shocked, but if so, it was quickly covered up with a laugh. "I don't care. I just don't like it when idiots are given false hope."

At that moment, Tatsuha found his trademark grin returning. "Keep telling yourself that." Maybe Taki was jealous or was secretly worried about him, but it was probably time to stop pushing since he was lucky that Taki hadn't thrown him out yet.

"Are you going to stay tonight?" The change in subject was so like Taki and not terribly unwelcome in any event.

"You'll actually let me stat?" Tatsuha couldn't hide his relief and found all the tension in his body was instantly dispelled.

"You have to promise to fix the mess you made."

Tatsuha nodded, deciding that it was more than fair. "I just have to let that blond guy know I'm not your boyfriend, right?" It'd be annoying not to play up that angle, but making up for this mistake was a moment of truth that Tatsuha could not let slip by.

Nodding, Taki pressed both his hands to his face and made a muffled sound as if he was groaning. "You have no idea how badly you fucked up. No friken idea." He didn't wait for Tatsuha to answer and left the room instead, presumably going to bed.

Instead of heading to join him, Tatsuha pulled a couple of cans of beer out of the fridge and sat down at the kitchen table, quickly downing both of them. The night had taken far too many turns for taste, despite the fact that he'd learned more than he had when taking the slow and easy approach. In any case, he had a new lead now. He was willing to be that blond guy would be far more talkative than Taki and the singer would have no reason to get pissed off if Tatsuha talked to him. Pinching his arm quickly, Tatsuha was happy to find that he wasn't dreaming.


	17. Trust

Trust  
**b Pairing/b **TatsuhaxTaki, slight hints at Ma-kun/Ken-chan if you choose to see it.  
**b Fandom/b **Gravitation  
**b Theme/b #**22. Cradle  
**b Disclaimer/b **I do not own these characters or this series and I don't profit from this work. 

By now, Ken should have been used to Ma-kun barging into his apartment and raving about the latest wrong Taki had committed against him. Granted, considering everything that had happed due to the Shindou incident, Ken could half relate, but there came a point at which he'd begun to wonder if Ma-kun had gotten more fucked up than Taki.

Staring up at Ma-kun from his position on the couch, Ken shrugged at his raving friend. "Taki's not that stupid, Ma." At least Ken would like to believe he wasn't so stupid as to be fucking Eiri Yuki's little brother. But, Taki was proof that intelligence didn't equal common sense.

Ma-kun was pacing back in forth, gesturing wildly with a cigarette in his hand, miraculously not setting his long hair on fire. "Ken, the guy was all over him and Taki didn't slug him!" Ma-kun's voice was also doing that cracking thing that it did when he got freaked out. He was at the point where he was hearing, but not really processing everything that was going on. Still, Ken figured that it wouldn't be a bad idea to at least try and calm him down.

"He's not gay."

"You honestly believe that?"

"My gaydar is superior to yours." Actually, Taki caused his gaydar to make more pinging noises than a pinball machine, but Ken didn't need Ma freaking out over that. "Listen, would it make you feel better if I just went and talked to him?"

Stopping, Ma-kun put his cigarette in his mouth, only to find that it had gone out. He let it sit between his lips, limp. "He'll lie."

"A lie is better than nothing."

Shrugging, Ma-kun flicked the cigarette and sat down next to Ken on the couch." Knock yourself out." At that moment, Ma-kun flopped down and rested his head on Ken's lap.

"What are you doing?" The corner of Ken's mouth quirked upwards in what could have been amusement or annoyance.

"I need a pillow."

"I have pillows."

"Whatever." Ma-kun was silent for a few minutes, before he spoke again. "We're fucked, aren't we?" Yes, they were fucked, but Ken wasn't about to fuel his friend's downward spiral.

"Don't say that."

"I don't need optimism."

"I'm not being optimistic." Okay, he was being way to optimistic, but if he didn't say something, Ma-kun was going to be a dumb ass and do something they'd all regret. "Look what we made it through already."

Ma-kun slapped a hand on his face, and then spread the fingers so that he was peering at Ken through them. "How do you do it? This whole not getting pissed at Taki thing?" He sounded tired, but at the same time, in awe.

"Same way I manage not to spazz out on you," Ken said with a snort, wishing Ma-kun would get off his lap. It was weird getting compliments from a guy lying on your lap.

Fortunately, Ma-kun seemed to get the hint or at the very least, the mental vibe, because he rapidly sat up and twisted around so that he was looking straight at him. "Ken, if you don't get through to him-"

"I'll do it."

"-he's out of the band, for real this time." The look Ma-kun gave him was steely, indicating he wouldn't back down this time. Ken nodded as he got off the couch. He suddenly needed a beer.

"Don't worry. I'll fix things. One way or another." Even if it meant beating the fucking shit out of Taki, he was going to do it.


	18. An End

**Title: **An End  
**Pairing:** TatsuhaxTaki  
**Fandom: **Gravitation  
**Theme: **#23. Candy  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own these characters or this series and I don't profit from this work.  
**Notes:** Mostly dialogue, with some description. Slightly Ma-kun centric

When Ma-kun had gotten the call, it was all he could do to keep from hanging up. Even though the voice was a little different and not as rough, it still sounded like Eiri Yuki, moments before the man broke Ma-kun's ribs with a sick smile. Right now, there was a lot of shit being spewed at him about how the thing at Taki's place had been a big misunderstanding, blah, blah, blah. Fear had finally given way to seething anger.

"Listen kid, whatever it is, I don't want to hear it. Tell Taki that he can fuck up his life all by his lonesome."

"Dude, listen. Just what is your problem anyways?"

"My problem? My fucking problem?"

"Yeah. Spill. I'm not psychic." It sounded like he was smacking his lips and Ma-kun couldn't resist a strange surge of irritated curiosity.

"What are you doing?"

"Having a few sugar daddies." He seemed to pause at that moment to savor one and the sound would have been erotic if it was coming from a girl. "I'd offer you one, but yeah."

"What's your game?"

"Nothing man. So, are you going to tell me why?"

"No."

"Listen, dude-"

"I don't know what Taki's after, but stay the fuck away from him."

"Uh dude, trust me, he's done nothing."

"Hahahahaha! You really are fucking clueless, aren't you?"

The threat had been coming since the conversation started, but it still hardened the lump in Ma-kun's throat when the kind finally issued it. "Do I have to go and ask my brother how he knows your blond ass?" He inhaled deeply, knowing that the boy couldn't possibly miss the sound.

"You shit. Your brother nearly killed me, that's all you need to know."

"You must have done something-"

"No you little punk. Taki did something. Just ask Shindou." Normally Ma-kun would have been cursing his big mouth, but even though it was belated, he was suddenly tired of the whole thing. Taki, Yuki Eiri, the lies, the paranoia, this boy, none of it mattered anymore.

"Listen if you'd just-"

"Figure it out for yourself." He slammed the phone down, satisfied at the harsh clicking noise it made. Picking up a worn black book, he began to thumb through it until he found the number he was looking for. He swallowed what little guilt he felt and began to dial the number, not caring about the consequences.


End file.
